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THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 


THE 


YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 


BY  WINTHROP  PACKARD 


WITH  ILLUSTRATIONS 


BOSTON    AND    NEW    YORK 

HOUGHTON    MIFFLIN   COMPANY 
Cbe  fitontfiDe  pre^  Cambribge 


no 

IOAN  STACK 

•3*656 


COPYRIGHT    1903   BY   WINTHROP   PACKARD 
ALL   RIGHTS   RESERVED 

Published  September,  1903 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

I.  A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS       ...        1 

II.  BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC          .        .          27 

III.  BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA    .        .      56 

IV.  THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE  DIOMEDES  87 
V.  WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN         .        .        112 

VI.    WINTER  LIFE  AND  INNUIT  FRIENDS  140 
VII.    THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNA- 

TAK.        .        .        ,        .        .        .        .    167 
VIII.    WHALING  IN  EARNEST      ...        196 
IX.    IN  THE  ENEMY'S  POWER      .        .        .224 
X.    "THE    FEAST  OF    THE    OLD    SEAL'S 

HEAD" 250 

XL    "THE     VILLAGE     WHERE     NO     ONE 

LIVES" 277 

XII.    IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS        .        305 

XIII.  THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  .        .    332 

XIV.  STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE        .        .        354 
XV.    HOME  AGAIN  381 


892 


LIST  OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAOl 

«  WAY  ENOUGH,"  SAID  JOE.    «  STERN  ALL  !  "    (See 

p.  105)          ......        Frontispiece 

THE  LONG  ROLLERS  OF  THE  NORTH  PACIFIC      .        .  36 

HARBOR  OF  UNALASKA 60 

BUCKING  THE  ICE        .......  68 

A  SIBERIAN  TOPEK          .        .  % ;;    .        .        .        .  84 

HOME  OF  THE  "  LITTLE  MEN  "  OF  THE  DIOMEDES      .  94 

WHALEMEN'S  CAMP  ON  ARCTIC  SHORE  ...  114 

ROUGH  ARCTIC  CLIFFS        .        .        .        .                .  136 

HARLUK  AND  KROO          .        .        .        .        .        .  164 

VISITING  ESKIMOS       .        .        .        .        .        .        .  168 

LOCKED  IN  THE  ARCTIC  ICE     .        .        .        •        .  198 

CAMP  ON  THE  TUNDRA        ......  234 

TOILING  ON  THROUGH  THE  DRIFTS          .        •        •  310 

ESKIMO  FAMILY  TRAVELING 334 

PROSPECTOR  AND  HIS  OUTFIT          .        .        •       •  364 

SLUICING  AT  CANDLE  CREEK  376 


THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 


CHAPTER  I 


A    CHANGE    IN    LIFE'S    PLANS 


"  I  WILL  do  what  I  can  to  help  make  matters 
easy,  father." 

The  speaker  was  a  handsome,  well-built  boy 
of  seventeen,  with  a  frank,  winsome  face  that 
ordinarily  showed  neither  strength  nor  weak 
ness  of  character,  —  the  face  of  a  boy  out  of 
whom  circumstances  make  much  that  is  good, 
or  sometimes  much  that  is  ill,  according  to 
what  experiences  life  brings  him.  There  are 
boys  who  will  grow  up  strong  and  able  men, 
anyway.  They  seem  to  have  it  in  them  from 
the  start.  There  are  others  who  have  an  in 
born  tendency  to  evil  and  dissipation,  which 
no  amount  of  training  and  opportunity  for 
better  things  can  eradicate.  Harry  Desmond 
was  of  neither  of  these  types  ;  his  character 
was  rather  that  which  responds  easily  to  out 
side  influences,  whose  weaknesses  may  easily 


2  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

grow  upon  it,  or  whose  strong  points  may  be 
developed  and  brought  out  by  use. 

"  Thank  you,  my  son/'  said  the  other  sim 
ply,  extending  his  hand;  "I  was  very  sure 
you  would.  The  business  will  of  course  go 
on,  and  may  be  built  up  again  with  care  and 
strict  economy ;  but  the  outside  investments, 
whose  returns  have  made  us  well-to-do,  and 
from  which  the  money  for  your  education 
was  coming,  are  totally  swept  away.  I  'm 
afraid  we  shall  have  to  withdraw  you  from 
the  preparatory  school.  It  is  an  expensive 
place,  and  just  at  present  I  do  not  feel  able 
to  supply  you  with  the  money  necessary  to 
keep  up  your  standing  among  the  boys  there. 
In  another  year  I  had  hoped  to  see  you  in 
the  freshman  class  at  Harvard,  and  that  may 
yet  be  managed.  There  are  always  scholar 
ships  to  be  had." 

"  Father,"  said  Harry  impulsively,  "  I  don't 
think  I  care  for  college.  I  'd  rather  help  you. 
To  tell  the  truth,  I  have  not  stood  very  well 
at  school ;  I  mean  my  marks  have  not  been 
high.  I  have  managed  to  pass  always,  but  it 
has  been  a  close  shave  sometimes.  I ' ve  liked 
it  immensely  because  I  have  had  such  jolly 
times  with  the  other  fellows.  I  have  thought 
of  college  much  in  the  same  way.  So  long 


A  CHANGE   IN   LIFE'S  PLANS  3 

as  we  had  plenty  of  money,  it  was  just  as  well 
to  go.  A  college  man  who  has  spending- 
money  has  no  end  of  a  good  time,  and  I  don't 
doubt  I  could  pass  in  the  studies  as  well  as 
a  good  many  of  the  fellows.  But  now  it 's 
different.  You  Ve  always  stood  by  me  like 
a  brick.  Now  I  want  to  help  you." 

A  look  of  pride  and  delight  beamed  in  the 
careworn  face  of  the  elder  Desmond,  and  the 
stoop  came  out  of  his  shoulders  a  little  as  if 
a  weight  had  been  lifted  from  them.  He  had 
expected  the  boy  would  meet  the  news  bravely 
and  carry  himself  well.  He  knew  his  own 
blood.  The  Desmonds  had  never  yet  been 
the  men  to  cry  baby  when  unpleasant  things 
had  to  be  faced,  and  yet  —  he  knew  now  how 
it  had  weighed  upon  him  —  he  had  feared  in 
his  heart  for  the  effect  of  the  news  on  his 
only  son.  He  knew  of  the  low  marks  at  the 
preparatory  school,  and  how  careless  and  plea 
sure  loving  the  boy  had  seemed.  There  had 
been  one  or  two  escapades,  also,  things  which 
showed  carelessness  and  high  spirits  rather 
than  viciousness,  and  they  had  worried  him  a 
good  deal. 

"I  think  we  shall  be  able  to  keep  the  house, 
here,"  said  the  father, "  though  we  shall  have 
to  live  rather  simply.  The  horses  must  go 


4  THE  YOUNG   ICE   WHALERS 

and  most  of  the  servants,  but  when  that  is 
done  and  things  straightened  out  a  bit,  we 
shall  owe  no  man  a  penny.  The  hardest  rub 
is  coming  in  the  business.  There  we  must 
reorganize  and  retrench,  and  the  office  force 
is  badly  cut  down." 

Harry  hesitated,  though  it  was  only  for  a 
moment,  and  swallowed  a  lump  in  his  throat. 
He  had  a  pretty  good  idea  of  the  drudgery 
of  the  office.  The  younger  clerks  came  in 
at  eight  or  before,  and  never  got  away  until 
six.  That  was  for  every  week  in  the  year, 
except  a  brief  vacation  of  ten  days  or  so.  He 
thought  of  his  Saturdays  and  holidays,  of  the 
long  vacation  in  the  heat  of  summer ;  and 
then  he  saw  the  careworn  look  in  his  father's 
face,  and  he  held  up  his  head  and  spoke 
swiftly. 

"  I  'd  be  glad  to  help  you  in  the  office  if 
I  can,  sir,"  he  said ;  "  I  'm  pretty  handy  at 
figures  and  have  a  good  idea  of  book-keep 
ing.  I'd  like  to  do  it,  if  you'll  only  let 
me.  A  year  or  two  of  it  would  be  good 
for  me.  Then,  if  things  go  better,  it  will  not 
be  too  late  to  go  to  college  after  all.  Per 
haps  I  shall  feel  more  like  it  then."  He 
smiled  somewhat  grimly,  mentally  noting  how 
swiftly  ideas  and  ideals  change.  College, 


A  CHANGE   IN   LIFE'S   PLANS  5 

which  had  seemed  inevitable  only  a  few  short 
hours  before,  had  not  appealed  to  him  except 
as  a  pleasant  place  to  spend  time  and  enjoy 
himself.  Now  he  suddenly  seemed  to  see 
how  useful  it  might  be  to  him  in  the  future, 
yet  that  he  would  probably  not  be  able  to  go 
there. 

"  It  is  a  good  deal  of  a  sacrifice,  my  boy," 
said  his  father,  "  but  you  really  could  help 
me  there  a  great  deal.  I  need  some  one 
with  the  force  whom  I  can  be  sure  of  as 
loyal  to  my  interests.  Think  it  over  for  a 
day,  and  if  you  are  still  willing  you  can  begin 
right  away.  It  is  almost  worth  while  to  be 
ruined  financially  to  find  one's  son  so  plucky 
about  it  and  so  loyal  to  the  house.  I  shall 
have  to  let  you  go  now ;  I  am  to  have  a  busi 
ness  conference  here  in  a  few  minutes,  and  I 
see  the  others  coming  down-street  now.  Be 
as  cheerful  as  you  can  about  this  with  your 
mother.  I  think  it  is  hardest  on  her ;  but 
if  we  can  all  be  patient  for  a  few  years,  I 
think  I  can  pull  through  and  get  matters  in 
good  shape  again.  Good-by." 

Harry  left  the  library,  put  his  hat  on,  and 
stepped  out  of  doors.  It  was  one  of  those 
days  in  late  April  that  make  one  glad  he  is 
alive,  and  in  New  England.  The  grass  was 


6  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

already  green  upon  the  lawn,  the  buds  were 
swelling  in  the  shubbery,  and  a  bluebird  car 
oled  as  he  fluttered  from  the  bare  limbs  of  a 
maple  and  inspected  the  bird-box  where  he 
planned  to  build  his  nest  in  spite  of  the  scold 
ing  of  the  English  sparrows  that  flocked  about 
and  threatened  to  mob  him,  but  did  not  quite 
dare.  Harry  turned  down  the  gravel  path 
toward  the  boat-house.  Beyond,  the  waters 
of  the  bay  sparkled  and  ruffled  in  the  wind, 
and  his  knockabout,  new  only  last  year,  swung 
and  curtsied  at  the  mooring  as  if  in  recog 
nition  of  her  master.  The  lump  came  in 
Harry's  throat  again.  If  he  worked  in  the 
office,  he  would  have  little  time  in  the  long 
bright  summer  just  ahead  of  him  to  sail  the 
blue  waters  of  the  bay.  Besides,  perhaps  he 
ought  not  to  keep  the  knockabout.  The  boat 
was  worth  money,  and  should  be  given  up  just 
as  much  as  the  horses.  Well,  he  had  the  boat 
now,  and  the  afternoon ;  he  would  have  a  sail 
while  yet  he  might.  It  would  give  him  a 
chance  to  think  over  things,  too,  as  his  father 
had  suggested,  though  he  knew  his  mind  was 
made  up  already.  He  found  the  skiff  at  the 
landing,  rowed  to  the  boat,  hoisted  mainsail 
and  jib,  then,  as  an  afterthought,  instead  of 
towing  the  skiff  astern  he  made  it  fast  to  the 


A  CHANGE   IN   LIFE'S   PLANS  7 

mooring  and  sailed  away  without  it.  It  was 
one  of  those  little  decisions  which  mean  no 
thing  at  the  time,  but  which,  such  are  the 
mysterious  ways  of  Fate,  often  change  the 
whole  current  of  life. 

Pointing  well  up  into  the  wind,  the  graceful 
boat  slipped  rapidly  through  the  water.  She 
was  breasting  the  incoming  tide,  Harry  knew, 
for  he  could  feel  that  peculiar  quiver  of  the 
rudder  that  thrills  through  the  tiller  into  the 
arm  when  a  finely  balanced  boat  heads  the  tide 
and  beats  to  windward  at  the  same  time. 
Harry  looked  backward  at  the  Quincy  Point 
Village  as  it  slowly  drew  away  from  him.  He 
saw  the  fine  old  houses,  —  his  own  the  finest 
of  them  all,  —  and  was  devoutly  glad  that  the 
business  reverses  were  not  so  great  that  they 
would  have  to  leave  that.  On  the  rear  veranda 
of  one  of  them  he  saw  the  gleam  of  a  white 
dress,  and  a  young  girl  waved  her  hand  at  him. 
It  was  Maisie  Adams,  he  knew,  and  he  re 
gretted  that  he  had  not  seen  her  sooner.  Mai 
sie  was  a  jolly  good  sailor,  and  he  would  have 
liked  her  for  company.  It  was  the  time  of  the 
spring  vacations,  and  Maisie  was  home  from 
boarding-school.  She  would  no  doubt  have  en 
joyed  this  first  sail  of  the  season.  He  almost 
decided  to  put  back  and  ask  her  to  go  out,  then 


8  THE   YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

he  happened  to  think  he  was  no  longer  the 
prospective  Harvard  freshman  with  plenty  of 
money  to  spend,  but  the  prospective  clerk  in 
an  office,  and  not  likely  to  have  even  the  boat 
he  was  sailing,  after  a  few  days.  He  ought 
to  have  had  sense  enough  to  know  that  this 
would  make  no  difference  with  Maisie,  but  he 
was  only  a  boy  after  all,  and  could  not  be  ex 
pected  to  know  much  about  the  way  a  really 
nice  girl  like  Maisie  would  look  at  things  of 
this  sort.  So  he  pulled  his  hat  down  over  his 
eyes  a  little  —  to  keep  out  the  sun,  of  course 
—  and  sent  the  knockabout  bowling  along 
down  the  Fore  River,  by  Germantown,  by 
Rock  Island  Head,  and  out  into  the  wider  bay 
toward  Hull,  where  he  got  the  full  sweep  of  the 
bustling  spring  breeze. 

Meanwhile  Maisie  pouted  on  the  piazza. 
She  had  recognized  Harry,  and  she,  too, 
wished  he  had  seen  her  sooner.  The  day  was 
warm,  almost  like  summer,  and  she  would  have 
liked  a  sail  down  the  bay.  However,  she  got 
some  fancy  work  and  sat  down  in  a  big  piazza 
chair  in  the  sun,  with  a  wrap  about  her  shoul 
ders,  determined  to  watch  the  boat  if  she  could 
not  sail  in  it.  After  a  little  while  her  mother 
came  out. 

"  Are  n't  you  catching  cold  out  here,  Mai 
sie  ?  "  she  asked. 


A  CHANGE  IN   LIFE'S  PLANS  9 

"I  think  not,  mamma,"  replied  Maisie. 
"  It 's  just  as  warm  as  a  summer  day,  and  I 
thought  it  would  be  nice  to  sit  here  in  the  sun 
and  embroider  —  and  watch  the  boats.  Sit 
down  with  me,  won't  you,  and  talk  to  me?" 

"  I  knew  you  would  n't  be  home  long  before 
you  were  on  the  lookout  for  a  sail,"  said  Mrs. 
Adams  rather  roguishly.  She  knew  that 
Harry  Desmond's  knockabout  was  the  finest 
small  boat  on  the  river,  and  that  he  and  Mai 
sie  were  great  friends.  "  There  are  n't  many 
of  the  boats  in  commission  yet.  I  thought  I 
saw  the  Princess  "  —  that  was  Harry's  boat  — 
"  at  the  mooring  yesterday,  but  I  see  that  I 
was  mistaken." 

Mrs.  Adams  smiled  quietly  to  herself  as  she 
saw  the  faint  color  creep  up  into  Maisie's 
cheek  and  hide  itself  under  the  dark  ringlets 
of  her  hair.  Then  the  girl  looked  up  with 
charming  frankness  and  said,  "  The  Princess 
was  there  a  few  moments  ago,  but  Harry  has 
just  gone  out  in  her.  See,  he  is  almost  down 
to  Sheep  Island  now.  He  would  have  taken 
me,  I  think,  if  he  had  known  I  was  at  home." 

Maisie  looked  straight  into  her  mother's  eyes, 
and  that  was  one  of  Maisie's  chief  charms. 
She  had  a  way  of  looking  at  you  clearly  and 
honestly,  and  you  knew  that  you  were  looking 


10  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

down  through  pretty  gray  eyes  into  a  heart 
that  was  as  open  and  frank  as  it  was  sunny. 

66 1  should  have  been  perfectly  willing  to 
have  you  go,"  said  her  mother.  "  Harry  is  a 
very  gentlemanly  boy,  and  a  good  sailor.  I 
think  I  can  trust  you  with  him." 

"  I  think  you  can  trust  me  with  any  of  the 
boys  I  am  willing  to  go  sailing  with,  can  you 
not,  mamma  ?  "  said  Maisie,  and  knowing  it  to 
be  true,  Mrs.  Adams  gave  her  daughter  a  little 
squeeze  of  affection  and  changed  the  subject. 

They  sat  and  talked  for  a  long  time  in  the 
bright  afternoon  sun,  while  Maisie  embroid 
ered  industriously,  now  and  then  glancing  at 
the  sail  of  the  Princess,  which  had  diminished 
to  a  little  white  speck  over  toward  the  mouth 
of  the  harbor,  then  grown  again  as  her  skip 
per  headed  toward  home.  By  and  by  Mrs. 
Adams  went  into  the  house,  and  Maisie  laid 
down  her  embroidery  and  strolled  across  the 
lawn  and  down  the  path  toward  the  Adams's 
boat-house. 

There  she  found  none  of  the  boats  put  into 
the  water  for  the  season  except  the  smallest,  a 
light  little  thing  with  one  pair  of  oars.  Mai 
sie  was  a  good  oarsman,  and  she  often  rowed 
one  or  another  of  the  boats  up  the  placid 
reaches  of  the  Fore  River,  above  the  bridge ; 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  11 

so  there  was  nothing  uncommon  in  what  she 
now  did.  Finding  it  ready  for  use,  she  got 
into  the  little  skiff,  cast  off  the  painter,  and 
was  soon  skimming  with  easy  strokes  under 
the  bridge  and  away  up-river.  The  bridge 
and  the  heights  of  land  on  either  side  of  it 
soon  hid  the  bay  and  the  sail  of  the  Princess 
from  her  sight,  if  not  from  her  thoughts. 
There  were  plenty  of  interesting  things  to  see 
up-river,  and  who  shall  say  that  she  did  not 
turn  her  whole  attention  to  these  ?  At  any 
rate,  she  alternately  rowed  and  floated  for 
some  time,  and  thoroughly  enjoyed  the  vigor 
ous  exercise  and  the  outing  in  the  bright 
spring  sunshine.  By  and  by  the  ebbing  tide 
carried  her  back  toward  the  bridge,  and  she 
turned  the  bow  of  her  skiff  homeward  just 
as  the  Princess,  with  the  west  wind  in  her 
sails,  came  nodding  and  curtsying  up  toward 
her  mooring. 

Harry  had  thought  it  all  out,  and  was  at 
peace  with  himself.  He  would  take  the 
clerkship  in  the  office  and  work  patiently  and 
bravely.  Perhaps  he  would  like  business  bet 
ter  than  he  thought,  or  if  he  did  not,  he  could 
work  faithfully  and  hope  for  an  improvement 
in  the  family  fortunes  that  would  enable  him 
to  enter  college  after  a  few  years.  He  had 


12  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

heard  it  said  that  a  year  or  two  of  experience 
in  business  was  a  good  thing  for  a  boy  who 
was  to  enter  college,  just  as  a  college  edu 
cation  was  a  sure  help  in  business,  if  that 
were  to  be  taken  up  after  graduation.  At 
any  rate,  he  would  be  doing  the  thing  that  his 
father  wanted  him  to  do,  and  that  was  bound 
to  be  best.  So,  with  the  buoyancy  of  boy 
hood  asserting  itself,  his  brow  was  clear,  the 
trouble  was  already  behind  him,  and  he  whis 
tled  a  merry  tune  as  he  tacked  to  make  his 

mooring. 

Then  he  noted  a  skiff  coming  through  the 
draw  of  the  bridge  with  the  tide,  and  gave  a 
cheerful  shout  of  greeting  as  he  recognized 
Maisie  in  it.     Suddenly  something  happened, 
and  just  how  it  did  happen  neither  of  them 
could  clearly  tell.     The  skiff  was  passing  the 
piling  at  one  side  of  the  draw,  and  perhaps  an 
oar  caught  between  two  piles,  perhaps  Maisie 
turned  too  suddenly  at  the  call  of  greeting, 
or  the  sweep  of  the  tide  did  it,  or  all  three. 
Whatever  it  was,  the  skiff  overturned,  and  be 
fore  Harry  could  realize  what  had  happened, 
Maisie's  dark  head  floated  for  a  moment  beside 
the  upset  skiff,  then  sank  beneath  the  water 
while  the  skiff  floated  away.     He  swung  the 
tiller  of  the  Princess  swiftly  so  as  to  throw  the 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  13 

boat  back  on  the  other  tack  and  head  for  the 
spot,  which  was  not  far  away ;  but  quick  as 
the  knockabout  was  in  stays,  the  two  tacks, 
one  immediate  upon  the  other,  had  lost  her 
headway,  and  she  got  a  fill  of  wind  too  late  to 
fairly  make  the  spot  where  Maisie  had  gone 
down.  As  the  girl's  head  again  came  above 
water,  the  boat  was  a  dozen  feet  to  leeward 
and  would  be  no  nearer.  There  was  but  one 
thing  to  do,  if  she  were  to  be  resetted,  and 
Harry  did  it.  Letting  go  of  tiller  and  sheet, 
he  sprang  quickly  overboard  and  plunged  with 
vigorous  strokes  in  her  direction,  shouting  a 
word  of  encouragement  which  she  did  not 
seem  to  heed,  but  which  was  answered  by  a 
wild  warwhoop  from  the  shore. 

There  the  ancient  ferryman,  who  takes  peo 
ple  across  from  Germantown  to  the  Point  for 
a  nickel,  had  suddenly  waked  up  to  the  catas 
trophe  and  nearly  swallowed  his  pipe,  which 
he  had  been  smoking  placidly  when  it  hap 
pened.  He  saw  the  need  of  immediate  help, 
and  sprang  into  the  stern  of  his  skiff  and 
snatched  an  oar  from  the  thwarts,  swinging  it 
hastily  into  the  scull  hole,  very  nearly  upset 
ting  himself  in  his  excitement.  Then  he  vig 
orously  plied  the  oar  and  sent  the  clumsy  boat 
through  the  water  toward  the  scene  of  the 
accident. 


14  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Maisie  was  behaving  herself  well.  Used  to 
the  water,  but  so  weighted  and  snarled  in  her 
skirts  that  she  was  unable  to  swim,  she  never 
theless  did  not  hamper  Harry  by  needlessly 
clinging  to  him,  but  simply  grasped  his  shoul 
ders  and  clung  tenaciously,  though  speechless 
and  half  drowned  already.  Yet  Harry  was 
having  a  hard  time  of  it.  He  was  a  good 
swimmer,  but  the  ice-cold  water  seemed  to  grip 
his  chest  and  stop  his  breathing.  He  held 
Maisie  up  and  looked  for  the  Princess,  but 
the  boat,  with  its  sheet  caught,  had  swung  off 
the  wind  and  was  rapidly  sailing  away.  He 
could  not  reach  the  shore,  and  he  knew  it. 
He  could  hold  Maisie  up  for  a  while,  if  he 
spared  his  strength  as  much  as  possible. 
There  was  a  chance  that  help  might  come, 
though  he  could  not  tell  from  where.  His 
head  whirled,  but  he  swam  mechanically. 
Once  they  went  under,  and  then  as  they  came 
up  something  struck  his  shoulder  and  he 
grasped  it  and  held  on. 

The  swift  tide  had  floated  them  out  toward 
the  mooring,  and  set  them  alongside  the  skiff 
that  he  had  inadvertently  left  there  some  hours 
before.  Thus  kindly  Fate  helps  us  oftentimes 
in  little  things.  It  was  only  an  impulse  that 
had  made  him  leave  the  skiff  at  the  mooring, 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  15 

and  now  it  was  to  be  his  salvation  and  Mai- 
sie's  as  well. 

There  he  clung,  to  be  sure,  but  he  was  una 
ble  to  lift  the  girl  into  the  skiff.  His  head 
whirled  with  excitement  and  fatigue,  but  he 
would  not  let  go.  The  iron  grip  of  the  icy 
water  on  his  chest  seemed  to  crush  the  strength 
out  of  him,  and  he  scarcely  knew  when  the 
ferryman,  his  clumsy  craft  quivering  with  new 
found  speed,  swung  alongside  and  lifted  first 
Maisie  and  then  him  into  the  boat.  Then 
with  a  strong  sweep  of  his  oar  the  old  man 
swung  the  boat's  head  toward  the  shore,  and 
fell  to  sculling  desperately  without  the  utter 
ance  of  a  word. 

Harry  was  still  dazed  and  breathless,  and 
Maisie  was  the  first  to  recover  speech.  "  I  'm 
sorry  I  made  so  much  trouble,"  she  said 
faintly  to  Griggs,  "  but  we  were  nearly 
drowned,  and  would  have  been  quite  if  you  had 
not  come  just  as  you  did.  We  thank  you 
very  much." 

Then  she  turned  to  Harry,  who  could  still 
only  smile  faintly  and  shiver.  "  I  have  to  thank 
you,  too,  for  my  life.  I  should  have  gone  down 
before  any  one  else  could  get  to  me  if  you  had 
not  been  so  quick  and  brave."  She  held  out 
her  hand  to  him  and  he  clasped  it  for  a  mo- 


16  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

ment,  while  his  teeth  managed  to  chatter  that 
it  was  all  right. 

The  ferryman  turned  his  head  over  his 
shoulder  and  grinned  cheerfully  and  reassur 
ingly  across  his  pipe,  which  was  still  gripped 
in  his  teeth,  but  he  said  no  word,  only  went 
on  sculling.  Then  the  boat  reached  the  land 
ing  and  he  helped  Maisie  out  and  gave  a  hand 
to  Harry.  The  boy  rose  with  difficulty,  he 
was  so  chilled. 

"  Thank  you,  Griggs,"  he  said  as  he  stepped 
on  the  wharf.  "  You  came  just  in  the  nick 
of  time,  and  I  '11  see  that  you  have  more  than 
thanks  "for  your  trouble  and  coolness." 

"  Don't  you  say  a  word,  Mr.  Harry,"  said 
the  ferryman.  "  You  and  I  've  been  ship 
mates  a  good  many  times,  and  your  folks  have 
been  more  than  kind  to  me.  I  '11  get  the  Prin 
cess  back  to  her  mooring  for  you.  I  'm  mighty 
glad  I  was  on  hand,  and  you  '11  do  me  a  favor 
if  you  won't  say  anything  more  about  it." 

Harry  was  feeling  better,  but  his  teeth  chatr 
tered  still  as  he  stumbled  along  with  Maisie  to 
her  own  door.  At  home  he  told  his  mother 
quietly  that  he  had  had  a  ducking,  saying  no 
thing  about  the  rescue,  and  went  to  bed,  while 
she  dosed  him  with  hot  drinks.  He  did  not 
seem  to  recover  as  he  should,  and  his  mother 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  17 

sent  for  the  family  physician.  He  laughed 
at  the  escapade,  and  gave  Harry  medicines 
that  brought  him  round  all  right  in  due  time, 
though  not  feeling  very  active.  But  the  next 
day  the  doctor  took  care  to  call  on  Mr.  Des 
mond  privately. 

"  The  boy  is  all  right,"  he  said  ;  "  and  the 
ducking  is  n't  going  to  hurt  him  any,  but 
I  want  to  warn  you  that  though  he  is  con 
stitutionally  sound,  he  seems  lacking  a  bit  in 
vitality.  He  is  not  very  resilient ;  that  is  to 
say,  things  that  some  boys  would  throw  off 
as  a  duck  does  water  are  likely  to  hurt  him. 
Indoor  life  is  bad  for  him.  He 's  the  sort  of 
chap  that  should  be  out  in  the  open  as  much 
as  possible  for  a  few  years.  Don't  let  him 
study  too  hard.  Keep  him  sailing  his  boat 
and  playing  outdoor  games  while  his  consti 
tution  hardens." 

A  day  or  two  afterward  Harry  came  into 
the  library  and  found  his  father  with  an  open 
letter  in  his  hand. 

"  I  'm  ready  to  report  for  business,  father," 
said  the  boy,  smiling.  "  How  soon  do  you 
want  me  to  begin  at  the  office?" 

"  Are  you  really  anxious  to  begin  ?  "  asked 
his  father. 

"  Why,  yes,  father,"  said  Harry.    "  I  know 


18  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

it  will  be  a  good  deal  of  a  grind,  but  it  will  be 
good  for  me,  and  I  feel  that  I  am  big  enough 
now  to  help  when  you  need  me." 

"  Did  Maisie  stand  her  ducking  all  right?  " 
asked  his  father  with  a  smile,  suddenly 
changing  the  subject. 

"  Why  —  yes,  sir/'  faltered  Harry.  "  How 
did  you  know  about  it  ?  I  was  n't  going  to 
tell  anything  about  that  part  of  it." 

"  Oh,  I  saw  Mr.  Adams  yesterday  and  he 
was  quite  full  of  the  story.  He  spoke  very 
nicely  about  your  share  in  it,  and  I  am  quite 
proud  of  you." 

"  Oh,  sir,"  said  Harry,  turning  very  red 
with  pleasure  at  his  father's  praise ;  "  it  was  n't 
anything  much,  and  anyway  it  was  Mr.  Griggs 
who  pulled  us  both  out.  We  would  not  have 
got  out  at  all  if  it  had  n't  been  for  him." 

"  Well,"  said  his  father,  "  it  was  a  very  for 
tunate  escape,  and  I  'm  glad  it  came  out  as 
it  did.  But  I  have  two  things  that  I  wish 
to  talk  to  you  about,  and  it  may  be  that  we 
shall  not  need  you  in  the  office  at  all,  but  can 
use  you  to  better  advantage  in  another  way. 
First,  I  want  you  to  read  this  letter  from  Cap 
tain  Nickerson,  my  old  friend  from  Nan- 
tucket." 

He   handed  Harry  a   letter  written   in   a 


A  CHANGE  IN   LIFE'S  FLANS  19 

cramped   but   bold  handwriting.     It  was  as 
follows :  — 

WHALING  BARK  BOWHEAD, 

HONOLULU,  January  15,  189-. 

DEAR   FRIEND   DESMOND,  —  It   is  a  year 
since  I  wrote  you  last,  and  longer  than  that 
since  I  have  heard  from  you,  but  shall  hope 
to  hear  from  you  when  we  arrive  at  Frisco, 
which  will  be  in  April  unless  something  comes 
up  to  prevent.     We  have  had  rather  an  un 
eventful  cruise  so  far,  and  have  taken  but  few 
whales  in  the  South  Seas.     We   shall   land 
about  1100  barrels  of  oil,  however,  as  the  re 
sult  of  the  cruise  up  to  date.     We  are  refit 
ting  here  as  the  result  of  a  hurricane  which 
we  took  about  a  month  ago,  in  which  we  lost 
the  fore-topmast  and  some  gear  with  it.     No 
one  was    hurt   except   two    Kanakas,  one  of 
whom  went    overboard    when    the   gale  first 
struck  us,  and  the  other  got  a  broken  arm 
by  a  fall  from  the  foreyard  during  the  gale. 
How  he  escaped  going  overboard  is  a  mys 
tery,  but  it  is  pretty  hard  to  lose  a  Kanaka. 
I  watched  out  for  the  other  one  most  of  the 
way  into    Honolulu.     Expected  nothing  but 
he  might  swim  alongside  and  board  us,  but 
he  did  n't  come.     Picked  up  a  couple  of  white 
men  off  the  beach  here  to  take  their  places. 


20  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Think  they  may  prove  good  men.  They 
have  been  on  the  beach  long  enough  to  know 
what  it  is  to  have  a  good  ship  under  them 
and  regular  fare,  though  not  so  good  as  you 
people  at  home  get,  doubtless. 

The  old  ship  is  in  fine  trim  again,  taut  and 
nobby  as  a  race  horse  over  on  the  Brockton 
track.  Guess  I  shall  not  be  home  in  time  to 
take  in  the  county  fair  this  year,  though  I 
would  like  to.  We  shall  fit  out  again  either 
at  Frisco  or  Seattle,  and  will  probably  touch 
at  Seattle  anyway  on  our  way  north.  I  am 
going  to  cruise  through  Bering  Sea  and  into 
the  Arctic  this  summer  for  bowheads.  Oil 
is  cheap  now,  but  bone  is  higher  than  ever, 
and  a  good  shipload  of  bone  and  ivory,  such 
as  we  can  probably  get  if  we  go  north,  will 
be  worth  while.  And  this  brings  me  to  one 
object  in  writing  this  letter.  My  boy  Joe  is 
with  us  this  cruise,  and  as  fine  a  young  sailor 
as  ever  you  saw.  I  wish,  however,  he  had  a 
lad  of  good  family  of  his  own  age  for  com 
pany.  I  do  not  like  to  have  him  have  the  crew 
alone  for  friends.  Some  of  them  are  good 
fellows,  too,  but  many  of  them  are,  as  you  no 
doubt  guess,  a  rough  lot.  Your  son  Harry 
must  be  about  his  age  now,  —  eighteen.  Why 
do  not  you  let  him  come  on  and  meet  us  at 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  21 

Seattle,  and  go  north  for  the  summer  ?  He 
would  enjoy  the  cruise  thoroughly,  and  no 
doubt  learn  much  that  is  useful  to  a  young 
lad  just  growing  up.  We  shall  be  back  by 
November  at  the  latest,  and  it  would  be  no 
thing  much  but  a  summer  vacation  for  bun. 
If  you  think  he  would  like  to  go,  why  not  send 
him  on  ?  We  '11  make  a  man  of  him,  and  a 
sailor  man  at  that.  I  spoke  to  Joe  about  it, 
and  he  is  wild  with  delight  at  the  idea.  He 
remembers  the  visit  that  you  all  made  to  us  at 
Nantucket  some  years  ago,  in  which  he  and 
Harry  came  to  be  great  friends.  It  would  be 
good  for  his  health,  too.  There  is  no  place 
like  the  Arctic  in  summer  for  putting  health 
and  strength  into  a  man.  Besides,  I  could 
give  him  a  paying  berth  as  supercargo.  There 
is  not  much  to  do  in  this  except  a  little  book 
keeping,  and  that  is  just  what  a  boy  who  has 
been  to  school  as  much  as  Harry  has  would  do 
easily  and  well.  He  would  have  to  keep  track 
of  the  ship's  stores,  keep  account  of  expend 
itures,  and  such  things  as  that.  The  pay  is 
not  large,  but  it  would  give  him  some  pocket- 
money  when  he  got  back,  and  he  would  not 
feel  that  he  was  dependent,  or  a  guest  even. 

Write  to  me  at  Frisco  about  the  middle  of 
April,  and  we  will  plan  to  have  him  meet  us 


22  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

there  or  at  Seattle  before  we  start  out,  which 
will  be  some  time  early  in  May. 

With  many  pleasant  memories  of  old  school 
days  together  when  Nantucket  was  really  a 
whaling  town,  and  the  schoolmasters  did  a 
good  deal  of  whaling,  —  Lord  !  what  pranks 
we  used  to  play,  we  two  !  —  and  my  regards  to 
Mrs.  Desmond,  and  many  to  yourself,  I  am, 
Yours  very  truly, 

WILLIAM  NICKERSON. 

Mr.  Desmond  watched  Harry  narrowly  as 
he  read  this  letter.  He  saw  his  eyes  light  up 
at  the  prospect,  and  noted  his  suppressed  ex 
citement.  Then  the  boy  handed  it  back,  and 
steadied  himself. 

"  But  you  need  me  in  the  office,  don't  you, 
father  ?  "  was  all  he  said. 

"  Would  you  like  to  go  ?  "  asked  his  fa 
ther. 

"  Why,  yes,  very  much,  sir,"  answered 
Harry  frankly  ;  "  but  not  enough  to  go  when 
you  need  me  for  other  work  here  at  home. 
If  things  were  as  they  were  a  year  ago  I  should 
tease  to  be  allowed  to  go,  but  now  I  would 
rather  stay  at  home." 

Mr.  Desmond  looked  pleased.  "  Now,"  he 
said,  "this  is  the  other  matter  I  wished  to 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  23 

speak  about.  My  business  conference  the 
other  morning  was  \vith  Mr.  Adams  and  some 
other  wealthy  men  who  are  planning  to  make 
large  investments  in  the  whaling  and  trading 
vessels  which  go  north  into  Bering  Sea  and 
the  Arctic  each  year  after  whalebone  and 
ivory.  There  is  a  good  demand  for  whale 
bone  commercially,  and  there  are  some  indus 
tries  which  cannot  well  get  along  without  it. 
At  the  same  time  the  supply  is  limited,  and 
the  market  would  easily  pay  a  much  higher 
price  for  it.  I  am  partly  interested  in  this  as 
a  small  share-owner  in  the  Bowhead.  It  was 
hardly  reckoned  as  an  asset  in  the  business 
difficulty,  as  the  whaling  has  not  paid  well  of 
late  years,  and  dividends  are  few  and  far  be 
tween.  So  I  still  retain  the  stock.  The  plan 
of  these  gentlemen  is  to  concentrate  all  these 
vessels  under  one  management,  obtain  control 
of  the  world's  available  supply  of  whalebone 
each  year,  and,  by  careful  business  methods 
and  proper  handling  of  the  market,  make  a 
good  paying  business  of  what  is  now  conducted 
often  at  a  loss.  The  scheme  is  already  under 
way,  but  the  arrangements  will  not  be  com 
pleted  until  next  fall.  Meanwhile  we  are  anx 
ious  to  get  a  report  of  the  conditions  in  that 
country,  and  the  circumstances  under  which 


24  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  business  of  Arctic  whaling  and  trading  is 
carried  on.  If  you  take  this  trip  with  Cap 
tain  Nickerson,  you  will  have  a  chance  to  see 
much  of  these  conditions,  and  be  able  to  make 
such  a  report.  It  is  true  that  you  are  young 
and  inexperienced  in  such  matters,  but  your 
work  may  be  all  the  better  for  that.  You  will 
have  no  prejudices  or  already  formed  opinions 
to  bias  you,  and  what  you  lack  in  experience 
in  that  region  may  be  made  up  by  conversa 
tion  with  those  who  have  made  previous  cruises 
there.  At  any  rate,  Mr.  Adams  seemed  to 
think  it  was  worth  our  while  to  give  you  such 
a  commission,  if  you  went  out  there.  He 
seems  much  interested  in  you  since  the  upset, 
and  if  you  go,  you  will  go  on  a  modest  salary 
in  his  employ,  he  being  the  head  of  the  enter 
prise.  That  will  perhaps  be  better  for  us  both 
than  work  in  the  office  would  be.  Now  what 
do  you  say  ?  Will  you  go  ?  " 

Harry  looked  hard  at  hig  father,  saw  that 
he,  as  usual,  meant  what  he  said,  and  was 
really  desirous  of  having  him  go,  and  then 
his  delight  and  enthusiasm  bubbled  right  over. 
He  danced  about  his  father,  wrung  his  hand, 
and  in  general  acted  more  like  a  crazy  boy 
than  the  sedate  and  repressed  youth  who  had 
been  so  willing  to  go  into  the  office.  As  he 


A  CHANGE  IN  LIFE'S  PLANS  26 

rushed  off  to  tell  his  mother,  and  plan  his  ar 
rangements  for  the  trip,  Mr.  Desmond  smiled 
cheerily. 

"  Humph  !  "  he  said  to  himself,  "  I  sup 
pose  the  doctor  was  right,  but  there  certainly 
does  n't  seem  to  be  much  lack  of  vitality 
there." 

That  afternoon  he  sent  and  received  the 
following  telegrams  :  — 

To  NICKERSON,  Whaling  Bark  Bowhead,  San 

Francisco,  Cal. 

Have  decided  to  let  Harry  go  north  with 
you.  Where  shall  he  meet  you,  and  when  ? 

H.  N.  DESMOND. 

To  H.  N.   DESMOND,  Franklin  St.,  Boston, 

Mass. 

Will  be  in  Seattle  May  tenth  to  fifteenth. 
Have  Harry  meet  me  there.  Great  news. 

NICKERS  ON. 

Mr.  Desmond  wrote  also,  and  five  days  later 
received  a  letter  from  Captain  Nickerson, 
which  he  had  evidently  written  as  soon  as 
the  telegrams  were  exchanged,  giving  further 
instructions.  Arrangements  were  hurriedly 
but  carefully  made,  and  one  day  early  in  May 
Harry  bade  good-by  to  father,  mother,  and 


26  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

many  friends  at  the  station  in  Boston,  and  was 
off.  Maisie  was  there  too,  with  a  smile  on  her 
face  but  a  tear  in  her  eye  as  she  bade  him 
good-by  with  a  friendly  handshake. 

"  Good-by,  Harry,"  she  said.  "  I  hope 
you  won't  go  plunging  overboard  after  care 
less  young  ladies,  up  there  among  the  Eski 
mos.  It  would  be  just  like  you,  though.  Be 
a  good  boy,  and  bring  me  a  polar  bear  or 
something  when  you  come  back." 

"Good-by,  Maisie,"  replied  Harry.  "I'll 
bring  you  the  finest  aurora  borealis  there  is 
in  all  the  Arctic." 

Some  one  shouted  "  All  aboard,"  the  train 
rumbled  from  the  station,  gathering  head 
way  rapidly,  and  Harry  Desmond  was  fairly 
launched  upon  a  new  life,  which  was  to  be  so 
strange  and  so  different  from  the  old  that  he 
was  often  to  be  like  the  old  lady  in  the  nur 
sery  tale,  who  exclaimed  periodically,  "  Lauk- 
a-mercy  on  us  !  This  can't  be  I." 


CHAPTER  II 

BOUND    FOR    THE    ARCTIC 

THE  city  of  Seattle  grows  to-day  by  leaps 
and  bounds.  The  roar  of  traffic  sounds  un 
ceasingly  in  her  streets,  the  city  limits  press 
outward  in  all  directions  into  the  unoccu 
pied  territory  near  by,  and  the  present  pros 
perity  and  future  magnitude  of  the  place 
seem  already  assured.  She  sits,  the  queen  of 
the  Sound,  at  the  meeting-point  between  the 
great  transcontinental  railroads  and  the  great 
trans-Pacific  steamship  lines.  Great  steamers, 
the  largest  in  the  world's  carrying  trade,  ply 
unceasingly  between  the  magnificent  waters 
of  Puget  Sound  and  the  mysterious  ports  of 
the  far  East,  as  we  have  learned  to  call  it, 
—  though  from  Seattle  it  is  the  far  West,  — 
and  fetch  and  carry  the  products  of  the  Ori 
ent  and  those  of  our  own  great  country. 
Mighty  full-riggers  from  the  seas  of  half  the 
world  lift  their  towering  masts  skyward,  as 
they  swing  at  the  city's  moorings  in  water 
that  is  just  offshore,  but  so  deep  that  the  ordi- 


28  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

nary  ship's  cable  hardly  reaches  bottom,  hence 
special  cables  and  moorings  are  provided. 
To  the  westward  the  Olympic  Mountains, 
clad  with  the  finest  timber  in  the  world,  lift 
their  snowy  cloud-capped  summits  to  the  sky, 
and  glow  rosy  in  the  light  of  the  setting  sun ; 
while,  between  the  city  and  these  mountains 
beautiful,  flow  land  -  locked  waters  which 
might  hold  all  the  navies  of  all  the  world 
without  being  crowded,  and  which  seem  des 
tined  to  be  the  centre  of  the  commerce  of 
the  coming  century,  borne  over  seas  that  are 
yet  new  to  the  world's  traffic. 

Thus  to-day !  yet  a  decade  and  less  ago  the 
city  was  far  from  being  as  energetic.  Seattle 
then  slept  in  the  lethargy  of  a  "  boom  "  that 
had  spent  itself,  and  was  but  just  beginning  to 
feel  the  stir  of  new  life  and  a  solid  and  real 
prosperity.  Splendid  business  blocks  were  but 
half  tenanted,  many  of  the  original  boomers 
were  financially  ruined,  yet  the  city  kept  up 
its  courage,  and  had  an  unabating  faith  that 
position  and  pluck  would  win  out.  Already 
this  faith  was  beginning  to  have  its  reward  in 
works,  and  the  faint  glimmerings  of  future 
great  advancement  were  in  sight.  More  busi 
ness  began  to  reach  the  port,  and  the  often 
almost  deserted  docks  had  now  and  then  a 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  29 

ship.  One  of  these  on  the  day  of  which  I 
write  was  the  Bowhead,  and  certainly  busi 
ness  bustle  was  not  wanting  on  and  near  her. 
Perhaps  the  amount  of  work  going  on  was 
not  so  very  great,  but  the  bustle  more  than 
made  up  for  that,  and  Ben  Stovers,  the  Bow- 
head's  boatswain,  was  the  guide  and  director 
of  this  bustle,  and  to  blame  for  the  most  of 
its  noise. 

Stovers  had  a  voice  as  big  as  his  frame, 
and  that  was  six  feet  two  in  longitude,  as 
he  would  have  said,  and  it  seemed  almost 
that  in  latitude.  Surely,  like  this  terrestrial 
globe,  his  greatest  circumference  was  at  the 
equator.  Captain  Nickerson  was  wont  to  say 
that  Stovers  was  worth  his  weight  in  ballast, 
and  that  made  him  the  most  valuable  man 
on  the  ship.  It  was  a  stock  joke  on  the  part 
of  the  first  mate,  when  the  wind  blew  half  a 
gale,  the  crew  were  aloft  reefing  topsails,  and 
the  good  ship  plunged  to  windward  with  her 
lee-rail  awash,  and  her  deck  set  on  a  perilous 
slant,  to  politely  ask  the  mighty  boatswain 
to  step  to  the  windward  rail  so  that  the  ship 
might  be  on  an  even  keel  once  more. 

It  was  the  voice  of  this  mighty  man  that 
was  Harry's  first  greeting  as  he  came  down 
the  dock  toward  the  vessel  that  was  to  be  his 


30  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

home  for  the  long  cruise.  It  rolled  up  the 
dock  and  reechoed  from  the  warehouses,  and 
every  time  its  foghorn  tones  sounded,  a  little 
thrill  of  energy  ran  through  the  busy  crew. 

"  Hi  there !  Bear  a  hand  with  that  cask/'  it 
yelled,  and  two  or  three  dusky  Kanakas  would 
jump  as  if  stung,  and  the  cask  they  had  been 
languidly  handling  would  roll  up  the  gang 
way  as  if  it  concealed  a  motor. 

"  Come  on  now,  Johnson,  and  you,  Phipps ; 
this  is  no  South  Sea  siesta.  Stir  your  mud- 
hooks  and  flip  that  bread  aboard.  Wow, 
whoop  !  you  're  not  on  the  beach  now,  you 
beach-combers ;  you ' ve  got  wages  coming  to 
you.  Step  lively  there  !  "  Eesult,  great  rise 
and  fall  in  breadstuffs,  and  boxes  of  hard 
bread  going  over  the  rail  and  down  the  hold 
in  a  way  that  made  the  Chinese  cook  below 
shout  strange  Oriental  gibberish,  in  alarm  lest 
the  boxes  be  stove  and  the  contents  go  adrift. 

"  Lighter  ahoy!  "  —  this  to  the  man  driving 
a  cart  down  the  dock ;  "  clap  on  sail  now  and 
come  alongside.  We  've  got  to  get  away  from 
this  dock  before  night  or  the  city  '11  own  the 
vessel  for  dock  charges." 

This  sally  brought  a  grin  from  the  loun 
gers,  not  a  few,  who  watched  the  loading, 
dock  charges  being  always  a  sore  point  with 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  31 

the  vessels'  owners,  and  brought  the  pair  of 
bronchos  and  the  load  of  goods  down  the 
crazy  planking  at  a  hand-gallop. 

Flour  in  bags,  bolts  of  cotton  cloth  and 
many  hued  calico,  shotguns  and  rifles,  am 
munition,  what  the  whalers  know  as  "  trade 
goods  "  of  all  sorts,  for  traffic  with  the  Es 
kimo  tribes,  were  all  being  hustled  aboard 
the  vessel  before  the  impulse  of  this  great 
voice,  which  sounded  very  fierce,  and  certainly 
spurred  on  the  motley  crew  to  greater  exer 
tions.  Yet  it  had  a  ring  of  good  humor  in 
it  all,  and  the  men  obeyed  with  a  grin  as  if 
they  liked  it. 

A  tall  young  fellow  with  bronzed  face  and 
black  curly  hair  stood  noting  the  goods  that 
came  aboard  and  checking  them  off  on  a 
block  of  paper.  He  looked  up  as  Harry  came 
down  the  dock,  then  gave  a  shout  of  recog 
nition,  and  came  down  the  gangplank  with 
hand  extended. 

"  It 's  Harry  Desmond,  is  n't  it  ?  "  he  said  ; 
"  awful  glad  you  came.  When  did  you  get 
here  ?  Father  is  up  in  the  city  doing  some 
business.  He  '11  be  as  glad  as  I  am  that  you 
are  here.  Come  right  aboard.  I  'm  Joe 
Nickerson ;  of  course  you  remember  me,  don't 
you  ?  You  're  a  good  deal  bigger  and  older, 


32  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

but  you  have  n't  changed  a  bit.  I  'd  know 
you  anywhere.  My !  but  I  'm  glad  you  are 
going  up  with  us." 

He  glanced  somewhat  dubiously  at  the 
black  hand-satchel  that  Harry  was  carrying, 
but  said  nothing  about  it  as  they  went  up  the 
pknk.  Not  so  the  boatswain  ;  he  took  one 
look  at  it  and  rolled  heavily  forward. 

"  Ax  your  pardon,  young  feller,"  he  said ; 
"  but  ye  'd  better  not  take  the  hard-luck  bag 
aboard,  had  you?  Don't  you  want  to  leave 
it  down  here  on  the  dock  ?  We  '11  see  that 
it 's  safe  till  you  go  ashore  again." 

Harry  was  somewhat  surprised,  and  in 
clined  to  resent  this  seemingly  needless  inter 
ference,  but  Joe  spoke  up  before  he  could  say 
anything.  "  Mr.  Stovers,"  he  said,  "  this  is 
my  friend  Harry  Desmond,  of  whom  you  've 
heard  me  speak.  He  's  .going  up  with  us 
this  trip  as  supercargo." 

The  big  boatswain  reached  down  a  hand 
like  a  ham,  and  shook  Harry's  awkwardly 
with  it. 

"  Glad  t'  meet  you,"  he  said.  "  Did  n't 
mean  nothing  sassy  about  the  bag,  you  know, 
but  sailors  are  queer  fellows.  'T  ain't  me  ; 
I  don't  believe  it,  but  the  crew  think  a  black 
bag  is  full  of  gales  of  wind,  and  lets  'em  out 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  33 

•when  it  Js  brought  aboard  ship.  See  'em  look 
ing  at  it,  now.  'F  you  could  leave  it  ashore, 
and  bring  your  dunnage  on  in  a  canvas  bag, 
they  'd  feel  better  about  it.  No  use  getting 
the  men  grumbling  down  for'ard." 

"Certainly,"  said  Harry  politely.  "I'll 
leave  it  out  on  the  dock  here,  if  some  one  will 
keep  an  eye  on  it  for  a  while  till  I  can  get 
something  else.  Glad  you  told  me.  I  don't 
want  to  be  a  bad  weather  man  my  first  cruise." 

"  Thank  you,"  said  the  boatswain  with 
equal  politeness  ;  "  I  guess  you  and  I  '11  get 
along  all  right."  Then  he  turned  suddenly 
to  the  crew,  who  were  loitering  and  gazing 
uneasily  at  the  black  bag. 

"  'Vast  gawking  there,  and  bend  on  to  that 
dunnage.  Whoop,  now  !  Get  her  up  here  ! 
Heave  her  up,  boys,  lively  now ;  the  gale  's 
gone  down.  That 's  the  new  supercargo,  and 
you  don't  want  to  go  cutting  up  any  monkey- 
shines  with  him.  He  's  going  to  leave  the 
hard-luck  poke-sack  ashore." 

"  I  've  got  a  trunk  over  at  the  station,  too," 
said  Harry,  as  they  went  down  the  companion- 
way  aft.  "  Do  you  suppose  they  '11  mind  if 
I  bring  that  aboard  ?  " 

"  Well,"  said  Joe,  "  they  're  superstitious 
about  trunks,  too,  although  they  don't  care  so 


34  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

much  about  them  as  they  do  about  a  black 
bag.  That 's  a  special  hoodoo." 

"  I  '11  store  them  both  ashore,  then/'  said 
Harry  resolutely  ;  "  I  want  to  start  all  fair 
with  the  crew.  You  have  things  pretty  nice 
down  here,  don't  you?  "  he  went  on  with  some 
surprise  as  they  entered  the  cabin.  Here  he 
saw  a  room  with  a  well-furnished  dining-table? 
and  doors  leading  off,  the  fittings  being  in 
hard  wood,  and  the  whole  having  an  air  of 
refinement  and  home  surroundings  pleasant 
to  see. 

"  Why,  yes,"  said  Joe.  "  You  see  a  whal 
ing  captain  Hves  aboard  his  vessel  the  year 
round,  and  we  like  to  have  things  snug.  Fa 
ther's  cabin  is  just  aft  of  this.  He  keeps  his 
charts  there  and  instruments.  The  first  mate 
has  the  one  on  the  starboard,  and  you  and  I 
are  to  share  this." 

Joe,  as  he  spoke,  showed  Harry  into  a  little 
cabin  which  was  lighted  by  a  port  side  dead 
light,  and  which  had  two  neat  berths  with 
clean  bedding  and  white  sheets.  There  was 
abundant  locker  room,  and  the  whole  looked 
somewhat  as  any  boy's  room  might  that  was 
occupied  by  a  young  man  studious  and  inter 
ested  in  outdoor  sports.  A  rifle  and  shotgun 
hung  on  the  wall,  and  other  boyish  belongings 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  35 

wer*e  scattered  about.  There  was  a  shelf  or 
two  of  books,  and  it  reminded  Harry  in  a 
certain  way  of  his  own  room  at  home.  Joe 
noted  his  approval  with  pleasure,  and  seeing 
him  glance  at  the  books  said  :  — 

"  Father  's  got  quite  a  library  in  his  room 
that  you  are  welcome  to  use.  We  '11  study 
navigation  and  some  of  those  things  together, 
if  you  want  to.  Here  's  your  locker,  and  these 
hooks  are  for  you.  You  may  have  either 
bunk  you  wish,  but  I  think  you  '11  find  the 
lower  one  more  convenient.  Come  on  ashore 
now,  and  I  '11  help  you  get  your  things  aboard 
and  get  you  settled.  We  sail  to-morrow." 

That  night  at  supper,  which  was  deftly 
served  at  two  bells  by  the  Chinese  steward, 
Harry  was  cordially  welcomed  by  Captain 
Nickerson,  and  met  the  first  mate,  a  lank,  mus 
cular  man,  bronzed  and  singularly  taciturn, 
and  learned  much  of  his  duties  as  supercargo, 
which  he  readily  saw  were  nominal  indeed.  It 
was  strange  how  easily  he  became  adapted  to 
life  on  board,  and  before  bedtime  he  felt  as  if 
he  had  already  lived  a  long  time  on  a  whaling 
ship.  He  stored  his  trunk  and  the  "  hoodoo  " 
black  bag  in  the  city,  and  brought  his  belong 
ings  aboard  in  two  canvas  sacks,  regular 
sailor's  bags,  much  to  the  approval  of  the  two 


36  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

brawny  Kanakas  of  the  crew  detailed  to  bring 
them  down  for  him.  Harry  was  much  inter 
ested  in  these  dusky  South  Sea  islanders,  and 
found  them  intelligent,  good-natured,  and  effi 
cient.  Joe  showed  him  over  the  ship,  intro 
duced  him  to  the  engineer  and  his  assistant, 
and  taught  him  much  about  the  general  work 
ing  of  the  vessel.  He  saw  the  great  kettles, 
set  in  brickwork  on  the  forward  deck,  for  the 
trying  out  of  blubber.  He  saw  the  whaling 
implements,  the  bundles  of  staves  for  casks, 
and  the  great  space  between  decks  above  and 
below  for  the  storing  of  these  when  they  should 
be  coopered  and  filled  with  oil.  He  saw  the 
galley  where  two  slant-eyed  Chinese  were  in 
charge,  and  the  narrow  quarters  of  the  crew 
forward,  crowded  as  much  as  possible  to  give 
more  space  in  hold  and  on  deck  for  oil  casks, 
and  for  such  members  of  the  crew  as  he  came 
in  contact  with  he  had  a  pleasant  word. 

Until  Arctic  whaling  by  way  of  Bering 
Sea  began,  few  if  any  whalers  were  fitted  with 
steam  as  an  auxiliary ;  but  it  was  found  that 
if  vessels  were  to  make  a  success  of  the  indus 
try  among  the  ice-floes  of  these  treacherous 
waters,  get  into  and  out  of  the  Arctic  by  the 
narrow,  current-ridden,  ice-tangled  passage 
of  Bering  Straits,  it  was  wise  and  expedient 


THE  LOXG  ROLLERS  OF  THE  NORTH  PACIFIC 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  37 

to  add  steam  to  the  equipment.  Hence  many 
vessels  like  the  Bowhead,  though  thorough 
going  sailing  vessels,  were  equipped  with  en 
gines  and  propeller,  to  be  used  when  the  wind 
did  not  serve,  or  when  the  passage  of  ice-floes 
made  it  necessary.  It  was  under  a  full  head 
of  steam,  then,  that  the  Bowhead  passed  up 
Admiralty  Inlet,  as  that  portion  of  the  Sound 
is  called,  rounded  into  the  Straits  of  Fuca,  and 
spread  her  sails  to  the  westerly  wind  only 
when  she  was  well  out  toward  Cape  Flattery, 
and  breasting  the  long  rollers  that  swung  un 
impeded  from  the  vast  expanse  of  the  world's 
greatest  ocean. 

How  Harry's  heart  had  swelled  within  him 
at  the  sight  of  this  sea  !  He  had  something 
of  the  feelings  of  Balboa  when  he  first  sighted 
it  from  that  Central  American  mountain-top, 
and  fell  on  his  knees  in  adoration  and  thanks 
giving.  He  longed  like  Captain  Cook  to  fur 
row  it  with  exploring  keel,  and  seek  out  the 
enchanting  mysteries  that  He  in  and  beyond 
the  shores  that  it  touches. 

"  Great  sight,  is  n't  it,  Harry?  "  said  Captain 
Nickerson,  who  stood  near  him  and  noticed 
his  emotion. 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  Harry.  "  It  seems  like 
dreams  coming  true  to  think  that  I  am  to  see 


38  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  things  that  I  have  read  about  this  side  of 
the  world,  but  never  really  expected  to  see 
with  my  own  eyes." 

The  captain  smiled.  "  You  '11  see  strange 
sights,  my  boy,  before  you  get  home,"  he  said, 
and  there  was  more  of  prophecy  in  this  than 
either  of  them  dreamed  at  the  time. 

"Are  we  liable  to  do  any  whaling  right 
away  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"  Well,  that  depends,"  replied  the  captain. 
"  There  is  now  and  then  a  humpback  in  these 
waters,  but  they  are  pretty  shy  nowadays,  and 
hard  to  come  up  with.  They  're  hardly  worth 
while.  I  doubt  if  we  shall  lower  a  boat  before 
we  get  into  Bering  Sea  and  get  among  the 
bowheads  as  they  follow  the  ice  up.  We  are 
likely  to  see  a  whale,  though,  most  any  time 


now." 


"  I  wish  we  could,"  said  Harry,  the  ardor 
of  the  sportsman  beginning  to  thrill  in  his 
veins;  but  no  whale  appeared  that  day,  though 
he  watched  the  sea  with  patience  and  undirnin* 
ishing  ardor. 

A  day  or  two  afterward,  as  he  came  on  deck, 
he  saw  a  little  cloud  on  the  surface  of  the 
water  like  the  puff  of  smoke  that  follows 
the  discharge  of  a  rifle  loaded  with  black 
powder.  A  moment  after  another  puff  shot 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  39 

into  the  air  quite  near  the  ship,  and  he  saw 
beneath  it  a  black  body  rise  languidly  to 
the  surface,  loll  along  it  a  moment,  and  then 
gink  again.  His  heart  gave  a  great  jump. 
A  whale  !  Why  had  none  of  the  crew  seen 
it  ?  To  be  sure  they  were  not  on  watch  for 
whales,  but  still  several  were  on  deck,  and  the 
first  mate,  whose  watch  it  was,  was  pacing 
leisurely  back  and  forth  behind  him  as  he 
stood  at  the  rail.  The  mate  now  and  then 
glanced  at  the  sails  to  see  how  they  were  draw 
ing,  and  now  and  then  shot  a  command,  a 
single  word  if  possible,  to  the  crew  for  a  pull 
on  the  braces,  or  something  of  that  sort,  but 
he  seemed  to  take  no  notice  of  the  puff  of 
smoke  and  the  black  body  just  showing  above 
the  surface  almost  alongside.  Harry  looked 
again.  Yes,  it  was  there,  so  near  that  he 
could  see  that  the  little  puff  of  smoke  was  a 
cloud  or  vapor  blown  with  a  whiff  into  the 
air  from  one  end  of  this  black  body.  He 
could  stand  it  no  longer,  but  rushed  up  to  the 
mate,  grasped  his  arm,  pointed  in  the  direc 
tion  of  his  discovery,  and  said  excitedly,  "  See, 
see  !  There  he  is !  Don't  you  see  the  whale  ?  " 
"  Nope,"  calmly  replied  the  taciturn  first 
mate,  gazing  at  the  little  puff  of  vapor  and 
the  black  body. 


40  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Is  n't  —  is  n't  it  a  whale  ?  "  faltered 
Harry,  a  little  ashamed  of  his  enthusiasm  in 
the  face  of  this  stolidity. 

"  Nope/'  said  the  first  mate. 

"  But  it  looks  like  a  whale,"  persisted 
Harry  ;  "  and  it  acts  like  a  whale,  at  least  as 
I  have  read  that  they  acted.  What  is  it, 
then?" 

"  Blackfish,"  said  the  mate,  with  a  sweep  of 
his  hand  to  the  other  side  of  the  ship.  Harry 
looked  in  that  direction,  and  was  silent  in 
astonishment  and  delight. 

"  Hundreds  !  "  said  the  mate,  and  resumed 
his  walk  on  the  deck. 

There  were  not  so  many  as  that,  but  there 
were  certainly  scores  of  these  creatures  sport 
ing  lazily  in  the  waves,  rolling  their  black 
bodies  to  glisten  in  the  sun,  and  sending  up 
the  puffs  of  vapor  that  floated  a  moment  in 
the  breeze  and  then  vanished.  It  reminded 
Harry  of  the  skirmish  line  when  the  Cadets 
were  encamped  at  Hingham,  and  the  order 
"  Fire  at  will "  had  been  given.  The  puffs 
were  much  like  those  from  the  Springfield 
rifle. 

The  blackfish  is  really  a  whale,  though  the 
whalemen  do  not  like  to  consider  him  as  such 
or  give  him  credit  for  it.  He  is  small,  not 


BOUND   FOR  THE  ARCTIC  41 

generally  reaching  a  length  of  twenty  feet, 
but  otherwise  he  has  all  the  characteristics 
of  a  whale.  He  blows,  breathes,  feeds,  and 
lives  in  whale  fashion.  But  he  contains  but 
a  barrel  or  two  of  oil,  of  an  inferior  quality, 
and  hence  is  beneath  the  notice  of  the  average 
whaleman,  though  vessels  in  hard  luck  occa 
sionally  turn  to  and  slaughter  him  rather  than 
return  to  port  empty.  His  meat,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  better  than  whale  meat,  and  is  often 
esteemed  a  delicacy  on  a  long  whaling  voyage 
when  fresh  meat  from  other  sources  has  not 
been  obtainable. 

Some  time  afterward,  as  they  were  nearing 
the  Aleutian  Islands,  Harry  was  to  see  his  first 
"real  whale,"  and  witness  one  of  the  fierce 
tragedies  of  the  sea.  He  sat  by  the  taffrail 
conning  Bowditch's  Navigator,  puzzling  his 
way  through  the  intricate  and  bewildering  in 
structions  as  to  the  taking  of  the  sun,  the 
use  of  sextant  and  quadrant,  the  working  out 
of  longitude  and  latitude,  while  Joe,  standing 
second  mate's  watch  as  was  his  wont,  paced 
the  deck,  and  now  and  then  passed  a  word  with 
the  boatswain.  That  worthy  was  sitting  cross- 
legged  near  the  rail  amidships,  busy  with  sail 
or's  needle  and  canvas  rigging  some  chafing- 
gear  for  some  of  the  lines,  when  he  suddenly 


42  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

sprang  to  his  feet  and  gazed  intently  over  the 
bow  toward  the  horizon.  A  moment  he  stood 
thus,  and  then  the  great  tones  of  his  voice 
rang  out  in  the  musical  call :  — 

"A-h-h  blow!  There  she  blows! 
Whale  —  o!" 

The  ship  sprang  into  bustle  immediately. 
The  watch  on  deck,  which  had  been  languidly 
busy  over  such  small  matters  as  the  boatswain 
could  devise  to  keep  them  at  work,  jumped 
into  instant  action,  scurrying  hither  and  thither 
to  get  the  gear  up  and  the  boats  in  trim  for 
a  possible  conflict.  Those  below  came  piling 
up  on  deck,  and  Joe  sprang  into  the  rig 
ging,  looking  intently  toward  the  spot  where 
the  whale  was  supposed  to  be.  Harry  gazed 
eagerly,  but  he  could  see  nothing. 

Captain  Nickerson  and  the  first  mate  ap 
peared  as  suddenly  from  below,  and  the  whole 
ship  was  activity  and  attention. 

"  Where  is  that  whale  ? "  asked  the  cap 
tain. 

"  Three  points  off  the  port  bow,  sir," 
answered  Joe ;  "  about  four  miles,  I  think." 

"  Good  !  "  cried  the  captain.  "  Hold  your 
course  "  —  this  to  the  man  at  the  wheel. 

He  climbed  into  the  mizzen  rigging  with 
Joe,  and  gazed  through  his  glass  in  the  direc- 


BOUND   FOR  THE  ARCTIC  43 

tion  indicated.  A  shade  of  disappointment 
came  into  his  face. 

"  It 's  an  old  bull  humpback,"  he  said, 
"  and  I  don't  believe  we  can  get  near  him, 
but  you  may  see  that  the  first  and  second 
boats  are  in  readiness,  Mr.  Jones." 

"  Ay,  ay,  sir,"  answered  that  man  of  brev 
ity,  using  three  words  in  the  excitement  of 
the  moment ;  but  there  had  been  no  need  to 
give  the  order,  for  he  had  several  of  the  crew 
busy  doing  just  that  very  thing  already.  All 
had  been  keen  in  the  hope  that  it  would  be 
a  sperm  whale. 

Harry  climbed  into  the  rigging  too,  and 
as  the  ship  drew  toward  the  spot,  he  plainly 
saw  an  occasional  puff  as  the  monster  breathed 
and  sent  a  little  cloud  of  vapor  into  the  air. 
Steadily  they  approached  the  lazy  leviathan, 
and  by  and  by  Harry  could  see  his  black 
head  and  hump,  yet  still  the  vessel  kept  her 
course,  and  the  order  to  lower  was  not  given. 

"  Hullo ! "  said  the  captain.    "  He 's  gallied." 

What  that  might  be  Harry  was  not  sure, 
though  he  took  it  to  mean  excited,  for  the 
animal  suddenly  surged  forward,  half  out  of 
water,  swung  a  half  circle  on  the  surface  with 
a  great  sweep  of  his  mighty  flukes,  and  began 
to  forge  through  the  water  in  their  direction. 


44  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

As  he  did  so,  something  flashed  into  the  air 
behind  him,  and  a  black  figure  twenty  feet 
long,  shaped  somewhat  like  another  whale, 
seemed  literally  to  turn  a  somersault  from  the 
surface,  landing  with  a  thud  right  on  the  back 
of  the  great  humpback.  The  noise  of  the 
blow  was  plainly  heard,  though  the  whale  was 
more  than  a  half  mile  away.  The  humpback 
gave  a  sort  of  moaning  bellow,  and  sounded. 

"  'Vast  there  with  your  boats,"  cried  the 
captain ;  "  the  killer  has  got  ahead  of  us." 

The  orca,  or  "  whale-killer  "  as  the  whalers 
call  him,  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  and  rapa 
cious  animals  in  the  world.  Himself  a  whale, 
he  is  the  only  one  of  the  species  that  lives  on 
other  whales,  and  does  not  hesitate  to  attack 
the  largest  of  them.  He  grows  to  a  length 
of  thirty  feet,  and  his  activity  and  strength  are 
extraordinary.  One  of  them  has  been  known 
to  take  a  full-grown  dead  whale  that  the 
whalemen  had  in  tow,  grasp  it  in  his  tremen 
dous  jaws,  and  carry  it  to  the  bottom,  in  spite 
of  its  captors.  One  does  not  have  to  believe 
an  old  writer  who  says  that  a  killer  has  been 
seen  with  a  seal  under  each  flipper,  one  under 
the  dorsal  fin,  and  a  third  in  his  mouth. 
Eschrit,  however,  is  reckoned  reliable,  and 
we  have  his  authority  that  a  killer  has  been 


BOUND   FOR  THE   ARCTIC  46 

captured,  from  the  stomach  of  which  were 
taken  thirteen  porpoises  and  fourteen  seals. 
The  killer  is  shaped  much  like  a  whale,  has 
great  jaws  filled  with  sharp  teeth,  and  a 
pointed  dorsal  fin,  with  which  he  is  fabled  to 
dive  beneath  a  whale  and  rip  up  his  belly. 
He  is  found  in  all  seas,  but  is  particularly 
numerous  in  the  North  Pacific.  In  the  far 
north  he  pursues  the  beluga  or  white  whale 
and  the  walrus.  He  captures  the  young 
walrus  in  a  novel  manner.  The  latter  climbs 
on  the  back  of  the  mother  and  the  great 
ivory  tusks  keep  the  orca  at  bay,  but  he  dives 
beneath  the  old  one  and  comes  up  against 
her  with  such  a  blow  that  the  young  one 
falls  from  the  rounded  back  of  its  mother, 
when  it  is  immediately  seized  and  crushed  in 
the  great  jaws  of  the  rapacious  animal. 

For  a  few  moments  nothing  more  was  seen 
of  either  animal,  and  then,  not  his  own  length 
from  the  ship,  the  whale  appeared,  shooting 
up  as  if  from  a  great  depth,  and  flinging  al 
most  the  whole  of  his  great  bulk  straight  into 
the  air.  The  orca  rose  with  him,  his  jaws  set 
in  the  body  of  the  whale  just  behind  the 
left  flipper.  As  the  monster  shook  himself  in 
agony,  even  when  reared  almost  his  whole 
length  in  the  air,  and  with  his  great  flukes 


46  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

beating  the  water  beneath  to  foam,  the  hold 
of  the  orca  was  broken,  and  he  fell  back  into 
the  water  beside  the  whale,  leaving  a  great 
three-cornered  tear  in  the  whale's  side  that 
dyed  the  water  crimson  as  with  another  tre 
mendous  leap  the  wild  wolf  of  the  sea  was 
again  on  his  victim. 

Again  Harry  heard  that  strange  half 
moan,  half  bellow,  as  the  frenzied  hump 
back  ploughed  along  the  surface  to  wind 
ward,  beaten  by  the  blows  of  the  orca  as  he 
flung  himself  into  the  air,  and  again  and 
again  came  down  like  an  enormous  club  on 
his  victim's  back.  And  thus  the  unequal 
contest  went  on,  and  Harry  watched  them 
till  they  disappeared  in  the  distance  to  wind 
ward.  He  was  much  impressed  by  the 
spectacle. 

"  How  do  you  suppose  it  will  come  out?" 
he  asked,  as  they  clambered  down  from  the 
rigging. 

"  The  killer  will  get  him,  sure,"  replied  Cap 
tain  Nickerson.  "  He  will  hammer  him  and 
worry  him  for  miles,  till  he  is  completely 
exhausted.  Then  he  will  get  a  bite  in  his 
lip,  and  it  will  be  all  up  with  Mr.  Humpback. 
By  this  time  to-morrow  as  much  of  him  as  the 
orca  does  not  want  to  eat  right  away  will  be 


BOUND   FOR  THE   ARCTIC  47 

floating  belly  up,  and  the  sea  birds  and  sharks 
will  be  busy  with  it." 

Two  days  afterward  great  banks  of  fog, 
with  now  and  then  a  white  peak  gleaming 
through,  showed  that  they  were  nearing  the 
Aleutian  Islands.  The  course  was  changed 
more  to  the  northward,  and  the  ship  sailed 
into  the  windy,  cloud-tormented  reaches  of 
Unalga  Pass.  Just  as  they  reached  the  edge 
of  the  mists,  the  clouds  lifted  for  a  moment, 
and  showed  a  scene  of  surpassing  grandeur. 
The  scarred  and  weather-beaten  abrupt  cliffs 
of  the  mountain  sides  rose  from  dark  waters, 
that  flashed  green  and  white  as  they  broke 
against  the  island  sides,  varying  from  dull 
red  to  deep  crimson,  streaked  with  vivid 
green  of  grasses  and  golden  brown  with 
lichens.  Above  these  again  swept  the  bare 
uplands,  golden  and  olive  with  the  tundra 
moss  that  clothes  all  to  the  farthest  Arctic 
limits  of  the  north,  while  over  all,  majestic 
and  wonderful,  lifting  its  crystal  pinnacle 
eight  thousand  feet  to  the  heavens,  stood 
the  mighty  crest  of  Shishaldin,  clothed  white 
with  unmelting  snows,  and  tipped  with  a  flut 
tering  banner  of  smoke  from  the  undying 
fires  within.  Shishaldin  and  Pogromnia,  the 
one  white  as  snow,  the  other  dark  with  fur- 


48  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

rowed  cliff  and  frozen  lava,  are  chimneys  to 
the  banked  fires  of  Unimak  Island,  in  which 
slumber  still,  as  they  have  slumbered  since  the 
white  men  first  discovered  them  nearly  two 
centuries  ago,  the  mighty  forces  of  eruption. 
In  the  baffling  currents  and  gusts  of  the 
pass  sails  were  furled,  and  the  ship  proceeded 
under  a  full  head  of  steam,  skirting  the  lofty 
cliffs  of  Akutan.  On  this  island  once  dwelt 
many  thousand  happy,  contented  Aleuts. 
They  were  great  whalemen,  and  when  the 
summer  brought  the  humpback  whales  in 
schools  to  their  turbulent  waters,  they  cap 
tured  many  of  them  by  bold  but  primitive 
hunting.  Wisely,  they  did  not  attack  the  old 
whales,  for  the  humpback  is  a  famous  fighter, 
and  the  white  whalers  rarely  attack  them  in 
these  dangerous  waters  to-day.  Instead  they 
picked  out  the  agashitnak  (yearlings)  or 
akhoak  (calves),  and  boldly  attacked  them  in 
their  two-holed  bidarkas,  made  of  walrus  and 
seal  skin  stretched  over  driftwood  framework. 
In  the  after-hole  sat  the  paddler,  and  in  the 
forward  one  the  harpooner  with  his  six- 
foot  driftwood  harpoon,  tipped  with  an  ivory 
socket  bearing  a  notched  blade  of  slate.  This 
was  thrust  deep  into  the  young  whale  and 
then  withdrawn,  leaving  the  socket  and  blade 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  49 

in  his  carcass.  The  mark  of  the  hunter  was 
scratched  deep  in  this  slate  blade,  that  he  might 
know  it  again.  On  being  thus  wounded  the 
whale  fled  to  sea,  and  there,  as  the  Aleuts 
used  to  say,  "  went  to  sleep  for  three  days." 
Meanwhile  watchers  lined  the  cliffs,  and 
watched  through  the  scurrying  fog  for  the 
currents  to  drift  the  carcass  back  to  the 
island.  Once  perhaps  in  twenty  times  this 
happened,  and  then  there  was  a  feast  and 
great  rejoicing  in  the  villages.  The  mark 
of  the  mighty  hunter,  inscribed  on  the  blade, 
was  found  when  the  weapon  was  cut  out,  and 
he  was  honored  for  his  feat  during  life,  and 
even  afterward.  After  his  death,  if  he  had 
been  one  of  the  very  great  men,  his  body  was 
preserved,  cut  up,  and  rubbed  on  the  blades 
of  the  young  harpooners,  that  his  valor  and 
good  fortune  might  be  thus  transmitted. 

The  villagers  were  bold  sea  hunters,  but 
gentle  and  peaceable  in  their  intercourse  with 
one  another,  and  so  large  were  their  villages 
that  to-day  the  ruins  of  one  of  them  front  for 
nearly  a  mile  on  the  beach.  Over  on  Akun 
—  another  veritable  volcanic  mountain  rising 
abruptly  from  the  sea  —  were  other  prosper 
ous  villages,  also  of  primitive  whalemen.  Here 
were  boiling  springs  in  which  the  villagers 


50  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

might  cook  their  meat  without  fire,  and  the 
winter's  cold  was  in  no  wise  to  be  feared 
because  of  the  underground  heat. 

The  humpbacks  still  school  in  summer 
about  the  islands  of  Akun  and  Akutan,  and 
millions  of  whale  birds  swoop  in  black  clouds 
above  them.  The  little  auks  and  parrot-bill 
ducks,  as  the  sailors  call  the  puffin,  swarm 
upon  the  cliffs,  and  breed  there  as  of  old ; 
but  the  Aleuts  are  gone  from  their  ancient 
villages,  and  only  a  diseased  remnant  remains 
in  favored  spots  in  the  once  populous  archi 
pelago.  On  Akutan  and  Akun  there  are 
none.  At  Unalaska,  or  Illiluk  as  they  called 
it,  a  remnant  survives,  their  blood  mingled 
with  that  of  their  exterminators,  the  Russians, 
and  their  sod  huts  cluster  about  the  beautiful 
Greek  church  which  they  support.  While 
the  Bowhead  lay  at  anchor  in  their  harbor, 
Harry  and  Joe  saw  much  of  them,  and  found 
them  so  shy  and  gentle  that  it  did  not  seem 
possible  that  they  ever  had  risen  in  revolt 
against  their  fierce  Cossack  oppressors  and 
swept  them  from  the  island;  but  such  they 
did  more  than  a  century  ago,  only  to  be 
conquered  and  almost  exterminated  by  fresh 
hordes  of  the  invaders. 

Like  a  necklace  about  the  throat  of  Bering 


BOUND   FOR  THE  ARCTIC  51 

Sea,  the  Aleutian  Islands  swing  in  a  cloud- 
capped  circle  of  peaks  to  within  about  five 
hundred  miles  of  the  Siberian  coast.  The 
story  of  their  discovery  and  exploitation  by 
the  Russians  is  one  of  romantic  interest, 
thrilled  through  with  horror  at  the  needless 
oppression  and  slaughter  of  their  gentle  in 
habitants.  It  was  in  the  year  1740  that  the 
Russians  first  sighted  them,  on  the  ill-fated  ex 
pedition  of  Bering  and  his  fellow  commander 
Chirakoff.  During  the  preceding  centuries 
the  little  white  sable  known  as  the  Russian 
ermine  had  led  the  wild  Cossack  huntsmen 
across  the  Siberian  steppes  to  the  shores  of 
Kamchatka.  The  value  of  east  Siberian  furs 
in  Russian  markets  was  great,  and  when  the 
wild  huntsmen  and  traders  reached  the  sea 
limit,  they  learned  from  the  natives  legends 
of  land  yet  beyond,  over-sea,  where  furs  were 
still  more  plentiful.  Accordingly,  with  a  com 
mission  from  the  Russian  court,  Bering  and 
Chirakoff  fitted  out  two  little  vessels  and  set 
out  upon  these  unknown  seas  on  a  voyage  of 
discovery.  Bering  touched  the  mainland  of 
Alaska,  but  soon  started  for  home.  Chirakoff 
visited  several  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  and 
finally  reached  Kamchatka  again,  after  losing 
many  of  his  crew  from  starvation  and  disease. 


52  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Bering,  however,  was  wrecked  on  the  Com 
mander  Islands,  just  off  the  Gulf  of  Kam 
chatka,  and  died  there,  but  after  incredible 
hardships  a  remnant  of  his  crew  reached  the 
mainland.  They  had  been  obliged  to  subsist 
on  the  flesh  of  the  sea  otter  during  their  stay 
on  the  islands,  and  they  brought  back  with 
them  some  of  the  pelts  of  the  animals.  These 
were  received  with  great  favor  in  Russia,  and 
the  high  price  offered  for  the  skins  gave  a 
great  impetus  to  further  exploration  of  the 
islands,  on  which  they  abounded.  Expedi 
tion  after  expedition  was  fitted  out  in  crazy 
vessels,  and  the  Promishlyniks,  as  the  Rus 
sians  called  these  savage  huntsmen  and  voy 
agers,  began  to  overrun  the  Aleutian  chain. 

Often  their  unseaworthy  ships  were  wrecked 
in  the  gales  which  surge  about  the  islands. 
Hunger  and  disease  decimated  their  crews, 
and  many  an  expedition  started  out  boldly 
into  the  untried  tempestuous  waters,  only  to 
disappear  and  be  no  more  heard  from.  Yet 
now  and  then  an  unseaworthy  craft  would 
escape  the  gales,  and  with  half  an  emaciated 
crew  return,  the  ship  loaded  down  with 
many  thousands  of  sea  otter,  fox,  and  seal 
skins,  meaning  great  wealth  to  the  survivors. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  boldness  and  har- 


BOUND  FOR  THE  ARCTIC  53 

dihood  of  these  men.  The  half -starved,  dis- 
ease-sinitten  remnants  of  the  unsuccessful 
crews  would  immediately  dare  the  myriad 
dangers  again  in  a  new  expedition,  so  great 
was  their  courage  and  so  tempting  the  prize. 
We  have  scant  records  of  the  expeditions,  yet 
in  those  of  which  we  know  the  misery  and 
death,  even  when  success  resulted,  is  appal 
ling.  Yet  they  kept  on,  and  the  boldness 
and  hardihood  of  the  Cossack  hunter-mar 
iners  were  equaled  only  by  their  rapacity  and 
cruelty.  Invariably  met  with  goodwill  and 
hospitality  on  the  part  of  the  natives  of  the 
mountainous  islets,  their  return  was  invari 
ably  oppression  and  cruelty  in  the  extreme. 
A  busy,  contented,  hospitable  people  swarmed 
in  the  sheltered  coves  of  the  rocky  isles  when 
the  invasion  began.  Within  thirty  years  but 
scattered  remnants  were  left,  enslaved,  dis 
eased,  discouraged.  Once  only,  on  Unalaska, 
they  took  advantage  of  the  winter  and  slaugh 
tered  their  oppressors  who  remained  on  the 
island,  but  with  the  spring  came  new  hordes, 
and  they  were  obliged  to  sue  for  peace,  with 
slavery. 

This  uprising  took  place  in  the  winter  of 
1763,  and  the  story  of  the  escape  of  two  of 
the  Promishlyniks,  driven  to  the  mountains, 


64  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

at  bay  on  a  rocky  headland,  concealed  in  a 
cave,  fleeing  alongshore  in  a  captured  canoe, 
always  with  tremendous  odds  against  them, 
yet  always  winning  in  the  unequal  fight,  is  an 
extraordinary  one. 

Most  of  the  Aleutian  Islands  to-day  are 
barren,  and  desolate  of  inhabitants.  Few  if 
any  Russians  remain,  and  but  a  handful  of 
Aleuts.  Moreover,  the  greed  of  a  century 
and  a  half  has  practically  exterminated  the 
sea  otter.  Once  so  common  that  it  might  be 
killed  with  a  club,  the  animal  is  to-day  one  of 
the  most  wary  known,  and  the  price  of  a  sin 
gle  skin  is  a  fortune  to  the  Aleut  hunter,  of 
whom  a  few  still  seek  for  the  prized  fur.  The 
Russian  domination  passed  with  the  sale  of 
Alaska  to  the  United  States.  The  American 
domination  is  kindly,  but  the  Aleut  does  not 
thrive,  and  it  seems  but  a  few  more  years 
before  he  will  have  passed  into  the  category 
of  races  that  have  faded  before  the  advance 
of  the  white  man. 

The  Bowhead  made  only  a  brief  stay  at 
Unalaska.  Here  some  coal  was  added  to 
their  supply,  and  store  of  fresh  water  was 
taken  from  the  reservoir,  established  by  one 
of  the  big  trading  companies  that  have  sta 
tions  there,  at  the  seal  islands,  and  at  St. 


BOUND   FOR  THE  ARCTIC  55 

Michaels,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yukon  River. 
Then  the  anchor  was  hoisted,  they  steamed 
out  of  Captain's  Bay,  by  the  strange  head 
land,  Priest  Rock,  which  marks  its  entrance, 
and  with  a  southerly  wind  in  the  sails  left  the 
clouds  and  snowy  peaks  behind.  Their  prow 
was  set  toward  the  mysterious  north,  and 
already  the  man  on  the  lookout  was  on  the 
watch  for  the  blink  of  Bering  Sea  ice  not 
yet  melted  by  the  spring  sun. 


CHAPTER  III 

BUCKING    ICE    IN   BERING    SEA 

HARRY  sat  at  the  mess-room  table  one  morn 
ing  a  few  days  later,  writing  the  first  chapter 
in  what  he  rather  shyly  called  his  "  report." 
He  had  learned  much  from  Captain  Nicker- 
son  of  the  habits  of  the  humpback  whale, 
which  frequents  the  Aleutian  Islands,  and  the 
dangerous  circumstances  under  which  vessels 
would  work  while  whaling  in  these  waters. 
The  captain  had  declared  that  it  was  not 
worth  while  to  hunt  the  humpback,  that  the 
dangers  and  losses  would  more  than  balance 
the  gain,  and  Harry  believed  him.  Never 
theless  it  was  on  such  things  as  these  that 
Mr.  Adams  wanted  knowledge,  and  so  he  was 
jotting  down  what  he  had  learned. 

The  old  humpbacks  are  born  fighters.  The 
shoals  and  currents,  the  fogs  and  gales,  of  the 
islands  are  their  allies,  and  right  well  do  they 
know  how  to  take  advantage  of  them.  Once 
an  iron  is  fast  to  a  humpback,  his  first  impulse 
is  to  turn  and  crush  the  puny  boat  which  has 


BUCKING   ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  57 

stung  him.  Failing  in  this,  he  rushes  to  a 
shoal,  and  rolling  on  the  bottom  tries  to  roll 
the  iron  out,  or  he  swings  in  and  out  the  nar 
row,  reef-studded  passages,  and  often  wrecks 
the  boat  that  is  fast  to  him.  Even  if  he  fails 
in  all  these  attempts  and  is  killed,  the  swift 
currents  and  the  fog  which  surrounds  make 
the  bringing  of  the  carcass  to  the  ship  diffi 
cult  and  dangerous.  Hence,  now  that  the 
Aleuts  have  passed  from  the  islands,  he  is  left 
to  pursue  his  ways  in  peace.  "  Why  bother 
with  him,"  say  the  whalemen,  "  when  just  a 
little  way  to  the  northward  are  the  bowheads, 
far  more  valuable,  and  as  a  rule  killed  almost 
without  a  struggle  ?  " 

Now  and  then  Harry  lifted  his  head  from 
his  work  to  listen  to  a  peculiar  grating  sound 
that  seemed  to  come  from  the  side  of  the 
ship.  It  was  the  same  sound  that  a  small 
boat  makes  when  it  touches  a  gravelly  bottom, 
and  he  noted  also  that  steam  was  up  on  the 
vessel,  and  knew  by  the  slow  pulsations  of  the 
screw  that  they  were  proceeding  at  half  speed. 
He  was  curious  about  all  this,  but  decided 
that  he  would  finish  his  work  before  he  went 
on  deck.  Then  a  faint,  far-away  cry  came  to 
his  ear.  The  man  at  the  masthead  had  sung 
out  —  "A-h-h  blow!" 


68  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

The  next  cry  was  neither  faint  nor  far,  for 
it  came  from  the  mighty  lungs  of  the  great 
boatswain.  "  Whale  —  o  !  "  he  shouted  ; 
"  tumble  up  lively,  lads.  There 's  a  bowhead 
out  here  in  the  ice." 

Harry  tumbled  up  lively,  indeed,  but  he  was 
at  the  heels  of  the  members  of  the  crew,  who 
had  been  below  at  the  call,  for  all  that.  He 
found  himself  in  a  new  world.  During  the 
early  morning  hours  the  ship  had  entered  the 
southern  edge  of  the  Bering  Sea  ice,  and  was 
steaming  steadily  northward  into  it.  Thus 
far  the  ice  was  neither  thick  nor  in  force,  scat 
tered  floes  to  the  right  and  left  leaving  open 
leads  through  which  the  vessel  pressed,  rub 
bing  her  sides  against  floating  fragments  as 
she  passed.  It  was  this  scattered  "  slush  "  that 
had  made  the  grating  sound  on  the  ship's  side. 
A  big  bowhead  was  playing  leisurely  along  in 
the  broken  ice  some  distance  ahead,  now  div 
ing  beneath  a  floe,  now  appearing  in  an  open 
space,  feeding,  and  unconscious  of  danger. 
The  open  water  and  the  ice  round  about  was 
no  longer  the  clear  green  which  it  had  been, 
but  was  turbid  with  a  brownish  substance  like 
moth  er-of -vin  egar . 

"  What's  that  stuff?"  asked  Harry. 

"  Whale  food,"  answered  Joe  ;  "  the  sea  is 
full  of  it  about  here  at  this  time  of  year." 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  59 

"  Well,  I  'm  glad  I  'm  not  a  whale,"  said 
Harry  ;  "  I  'd  hate  to  eat  that."  The  brown, 
muddy,  clotted  messes  were  even  frozen  into 
the  ice.  They  consist  of  minute  forms  of  low- 
grade  animal  life,  and  are  certainly  not  pala 
table  in  appearance.  Yet  the  bowhead  is  fond 
of  them.  He  sculls  along  with  his  mouth 
wide  open,  the  bone  in  his  upper  jaw  reaching 
down  to  his  lower  lip  on  either  side,  and  mak 
ing  of  his  mouth  a  cavern  into  which  food, 
water,  and  all  enter.  Once  the  great  mouth 
is  full  he  pushes  his  enormous  spongy  tongue 
up  into  it,  squeezes  the  water  out  through  the 
whalebone  sieve,  and  swallows  the  food  left 
behind. 

One  bell  sounded  in  the  engine-room.  The 
throb  of  the  screw  ceased,  and  the  Bowhead 
glided  gently  along  an  open  space  of  water 
toward  her  namesake. 

"  That  fellow  will  go  sixty  barrels,  and  a 
good  lot  of  bone,"  said  Captain  Nickerson. 
"  Lower  away  there  !  " 

Two  whaleboats  were  swung  over  the  side, 
the  first  mate  in  charge  of  one,  Captain  Nick 
erson  in  the  other.  Joe  was  left  behind,  nom 
inally  in  charge  of  the  ship,  and  Harry,  of 
course,  remained  with  him.  His  nerves  were 
a-tingle  with  the  excitement  of  the  chase,  and 


60  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

he  ardently  wished  he  might  be  in  one  of  the 
two  boats. 

"  Hard  luck,  is  n't  it  ?  "  said  Joe,  who  no 
ticed  his  excitement.  "  Tell  you  what,  we  '11 
get  ready  for  a  strike  ourselves.  There  's  likely 
to  be  more  than  one  bowhead  about,  and  we  '11 
get  up  some  gear  in  case  they  want  more  of 
it.  Here,  Billy,"  —  this  to  one  of  the  Kana 
kas  on  deck,  —  "  get  up  a  couple  of  tubs  of 
that  extra  line." 

"  There 's  no  knowing  how  soon  we  '11  want 
another  boat  away.  I  '11  get  up  another  bomb 
gun  and  a  supply  of  ammunition.  Then 
we  '11  be  heeled,  as  they  say  in  Frisco." 

Harry  handled  the  bomb  gun  when  it  ar 
rived,  —  a  short,  ponderous  weapon  of  brass, 
clumsy  indeed  to  one  accustomed  to  handle 
an  ordinary  rifle  or  shotgun,  but  very  effi 
cient  in  the  service  for  which  it  is  intended. 
Joe  showed  him  how  it  was  used,  and  even 
loaded  it,  placing  it  carefully  against  the  rail. 
The  two  boats,  zigzag  fashion,  approached 
the  whale  through  the  floes,  the  captain's 
much  in  advance,  and  finally  came  up  with 
him.  Cautiously  they  glided  on  till  the 
bow  of  the  foremost  just  grazed  the  black 
back.  Then  the  harpooner,  with  a  mighty 
thrust,  sent  the  iron  deep  into  the  blubber, 
and  the  boat  backed  rapidly  away. 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  61 

"  The  gun  missed  fire  !  The  gun  missed 
fire!  "  shouted  Joe  excitedly  ;  "they  '11  lose 
him !  " 

So  it  seemed,  for  there  was  no  sound  of  an 
explosion,  only  the  welt  of  the  whale's  flukes 
on  the  water  as  he  sprang  into  action  at  the 
thrust  of  the  harpoon.  With  this  one  great 
splash  he  went  below  the  surface,  sounded,  as 
the  whalemen  say,  and  there  was  no  sign  of 
his  presence  except  the  two  boats  and  the  rap 
idly  whizzing  line  as  it  ran  out  through  the 
chock. 

"  They  're  heading  this  way,"  said  Harry ; 
and  so  they  were,  the  captain's  boat  standing 
bow  on  beside  a  floe,  with  the  line  whizzing 
against  the  edge  of  the  ice,  and  the  first 
mate's  men  pulling  with  all  their  strength 
toward  the  ship.  Then  they  heard  the  warn 
ing  shout  from  the  captain,  — 

"Watch  for  him,  we've  parted."  The 
rough  edge  of  ice  had  cut  the  line,  and  the 
whale  was  free. 

The  bowhead's  chances  for  getting  away 
were  good.  He  would  come  to  the  surface 
again  only  for  a  breath,  and  then  continue 
his  flight  to  safety  in  the  distant  ice  fields. 
But  now  came  one  of  those  happenings  which 
prove  how  wise  it  is  to  be  prepared  for  any 


62  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

emergency.  Joe,  in  getting  up  that  extra 
gear  and  the  gun,  had  unwittingly  saved  the 
day.  As  both  boys  stood  by  the  rail  gazing 
toward  the  boats,  there  came  a  crash  in  the 
weak  ice  just  alongside,  a  black  bulk  crushed 
up  through  it,  and  with  a  gasp  like  that  of  a 
steam  exhaust  a  puff  of  vapor  shot  up  right 
in  their  faces. 

"  There  he  is  !  There  he  is  !  "  yelled  Joe 
frantically ;  "  give  it  to  him  !  " 

With  the  words  he  snatched  up  the  iron 
at  his  side,  and  hurled  it  downward  with  all 
his  strength  into  the  head  of  the  whale,  where 
it  stuck  quivering.  At  the  same  time  Harry, 
yelling  like  mad  in  his  excitement,  caught  up 
the  bomb  gun,  put  it  to  his  shoulder  as  if  it 
were  a  toy,  and  discharged  it  full  into  the 
middle  of  the  black  mass,  which  he  saw  as 
through  a  mist  heaving  in  the  crushed  ice. 
There  was  a  dull,  heavy  sound  of  a  muffled  ex 
plosion,  and  the  whale  quivered  and  stopped. 
Then  came  a  wild  hurrah  from  the  ship,  and 
an  answering  one  from  the  boats.  The  boat 
swain  sprang  up  the  short  ladder  from  amid 
ships  to  their  side. 

"  Mighty  good,  young  fellers,"  he  shouted, 
almost  as  excited  as  they ;  "  you  plunked 
him  fair,  and  just  one  chance  out  of  a  thou- 


BUCKING   ICE   IN   BERING  SEA  63 

sand.  Whoop !  but  we  're  a  whaling  crew. 
Greenhorn  bagged  the  first  bull  right  from 
the  quarter  deck.  Whoop  !  " 

The  bowhead  lay  motionless,  evidently 
dead,  and  the  boatswain  made  the  line  fast  to 
a  cleat.  Then  he  sang  a  variation  of  an  old 
sea  chantey,  cutting  a  ponderous  pigeon  wing 
to  the  tune  — 

"  Tra  la  la,  tra  la  la,  tra  la  la  boom, 

Lorenzo  was  no  sailor, 
Tra  la  la,  tra  la  la,  tra  la  la  boom, 
He  shipped  on  board  a  whaler.  " 

"  'Vast  there,  bosun,"  he  said  to  himself, 
suddenly  sober  ;  "  no  monkeyshines  on  the 
quarter-deck.  Get  down  amidships  where 
you  belong.  Hi  there,  you  Kanakas  !  clear 
away  that  cuttin'-in  gear.  Step  lively  now, 
they  're  alongside." 

The  boats  were  no  sooner  at  the  davits 
than  preparations  for  cutting-in  the  whale 
were  made.  He  was  hauled  alongside,  head 
toward  the  stern,  and  a  heavy  tackle  was 
rigged  to  the  mainmast  head.  Then  the  cut- 

oo 

ting-in  stage  of  planking,  rigged  so  as  to 
swing  from  the  side  of  the  ship  out  over  the 
carcass,  was  put  .outboard.  Two  men,  each 
with  the  great  steel  chisel  which  the  whale 
men  call  a  spade,  took  stations  on  this.  A 


64  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

longitudinal  slit  was  cut  in  the  blubber  just 
back  of  the  flipper.  Then  cuts  were  made 
from  this  round  the  carcass,  a  hook  from  the 
tackle  was  made  fast  in  the  end  of  the  strip, 
and  hoisting  away  on  the  tackle  the  blubber 
was  peeled  from  the  dark  meat  beneath  in  a 
spiral  peeling,  somewhat  as  one  might  peel  an 
apple.  As  the  weight  on  the  tackle  grew  great, 
the  strip  was  cut  away  and  hoisted  upon  the 
deck  amidships.  Meanwhile,  others  of  the 
crew  had  started  fires  beneath  the  great  kettles 
forward,  and  the  blubber,  cut  into  small  cubes, 
was  put  in  these.  At  first  this  fire  was  o£ 
wood,  but  as  the  work  progressed  the  scraps 
from  the  blubber  were  thrown  into  the  grate 
and  burned  fiercely,  giving  off  a  thick  black 
smoke  that  had  a  disagreeable  odor  of  burnt 
flesh. 

By  and  by  the  blubber  was  all  aboard,  fill 
ing  the  space  between  decks  with  its  quivering 
oily  masses,  among  which  the  crew  plunged 
and  worked  like  demons.  The  furnaces 
spouted  smoke  and  oil,  and  remnants  of 
blubber  made  the  decks  slippery.  Last  of  all 
the  tackle  was  carefully  made  fast  to  the  head, 
and  the  ship  listed  to  one  side  as  the  donkey 
engine  put  a  strain  on  the  great  mass.  Then 
the  great  backbone  was  severed  by  the  spades, 


BUCKING   ICE   IN   BERING  SEA  65 

and  the  tense  tackle  sang  as  the  enormous  bulk 
was  swung  inboard  and  landed  safely  on  the 
deck. 

"  What  for  goodness'  sake  is  that  in  his 
mouth  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"That's  the  bone,"  replied  Joe;  "and  a 
fine  head  of  bone  it  is.  Some  of  the  slabs 
are  eight  or  nine  feet  long." 

"  Well,  I  never  thought  whalebone  looked 
like  that,"  said  Harry,  gazing  in  astonishment 
at  the  black  slabs  varying  in  length  from  one 
foot  to  eight  that  extended  down  from  the 
upper  jaw.  They  were  flattened,  nearly  a  foot 
in  greatest  diameter  at  the  base,  and  tapering 
to  a  thin  tip.  This  was  fringed  far  up  on  the 
sides  with  what  resembled  horsehair. 

"  Can  he  shut  his  mouth  with  all  that  in 
it  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  replied  Joe.  "  The  tips  fit  into 
the  groove  between  the  tongue  and  the  lip, 
and  point  backward  when  he  shuts  his  jaws. 
They  are  very  elastic,  as  you  know,  and  they 
spring  and  bend  close  together." 

The  boatswain  and  the  mate  busied  them 
selves  cutting  out  these  slabs  of  bone,  which 
were  piled  away  to  be  cleansed  before  stowing 
them.  The  boatswain  was  jovial  and  talkative. 
He  sang  snatches  of  sea  songs,  made  jokes, 


66  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

and  tried  to  draw  out  his  companion  as  they 
worked  ;  but  the  taciturn  mate  was  as  silent  as 
ever.  Not  so  Harry  and  Joe,  who  put  on  oil 
skins  and  worked  with  them.  After  the  bone 
was  removed,  the  head  was  tipped  overboard, 
and  floated  away  with  the  stripped  and  aban 
doned  carcass.  Arctic  gulls  had  gathered  in 
troops  from  no  one  knew  where,  and  dogfish 
were  already  nibbling  at  it.  It  would  not  be 
many  days  before  the  meat  would  be  stripped 
from  the  bones,  and  the  latter  resting  on  the 
shallow  bottom  of  Bering  Sea. 

"  Pity  the  mersinkers  could  not  have  that 
meat,"  said  the  boatswain.  "It  would  make 
a  feast  for  a  whole  village  for  a  week." 

"  Who  are  the  mersinkers  ?  "  asked  Harry. 

"  The  natives  over  at  East  Cape,"  said  the 
boatswain ;  "  that 's  what  they  call  them 
selves.  You'll  see  them  in  a  day  or  two, 
probably." 

The  twilight  of  early  June  lasts  in  Bering 
Sea  until  almost  eleven  o'clock ;  then  flares 
were  lighted  of  scraps  and  blubber  in  wire 
baskets,  making  torches  that  lighted  up  the 
gloom  with  weird,  fantastic  glare,  and  still  the 
work  of  trying  out  went  on.  The  men  loomed 
in  and  out  of  the  shadows  like  strange  goblins 
at  uncanny  sport.  The  fires  illumined  a  brief 


BUCKING   ICE  IN   BERING  SEA  Cl 

circle  of  the  desolate  ice,  and  showed  only  a 
part  of  the  rigging  which  made  ladders  into 
an  unknown  gloom,  and  the  whole  was  like  a 
midnight  assembly  of  goblins  of  the  strange 
ice  world,  working  spells  about  witch  kettles 
that  far  outdid  the  wild  work  of  the  witch  sis 
ters  in  "Macbeth."  The  brief  night  had 
passed,  and  the  morning  sun  was  shining  on 
the  ice  again,  yet  the  incantations  did  not 
cease,  and  it  was  two  days  before  the  last  of 
the  bowhead's  oil  was  stowed  in  casks  below 
decks.  Then  only  the  weary  crew  had  a  brief 
rest,  before  the  ship  was  cleaned  and  scrubbed 
down.  Nearly  a  thousand  pounds  of  whale 
bone  was  the  most  valuable  result  of  this  first 
catch,  and  as  the  market  price  of  bone  at  San 
Francisco  was  something  over  three  dollars  a 
pound,  Harry  had  matter  of  interest  to  jot 
down  in  his  report  as  to  the  methods  and 
profits  of  the  pursuit  of  the  bowhead. 

The  vessel  now  found  herself  in  the  middle 
of  the  Bering  Sea  pack  ice.  Here  and  there 
were  open  leads  still,  but  they  were  fewer,  more 
narrow,  and  much  less  connected.  .Now  and 
again  there  were  places  where  contrary  winds 
and  currents  had  crushed  the  floes  together, 
piling  the  crumpled  cakes  high  on  one  another 
in  wild  confusion,  often  to  a  height  of  twenty 


68  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

or  thirty  feet.  Joe  called  these  hummocks 
icebergs,  and  Harry  and  he  had  much  friendly 
controversy  as  to  the  correct  use  of  that  term. 
Harry  explained  that  he  had  learned  that  ice 
bergs  were  the  product  of  glaciers  alone,  that 
there  were  no  glaciers  on  the  Alaskan  coast 
north  of  the  Aleutians,  and  that  these  should 
properly  be  called  hummocks.  In  this  he  was 
right,  but  Joe,  with  the  pride  of  the  man  who 
"  has  been  there,"  would  not  concede  it. 
Whatever  they  were,  they  totally  prevented 
the  progress  of  the  vessel,  and  when  they  ap 
peared  in  the  path,  the  Bowhead  was  obliged 
to  make  a  detour  to  avoid  them.  Now  and 
then  they  were  obliged  to  "  buck  ice  "  to  get 
from  one  lead  to  another,  and  the  process  was 
very  exciting.  The  vessel  under  a  full  head 
of  steam  would  plunge  straight  at  the  field  of 
heavy  ice,  striking  it  with  a  thump  that  entirely 
stopped  progress  and  shook  the  structure  from 
stem  to  stern.  The  masts  would  spring  under 
the  blow,  and  at  each  shock  Harry  fully  ex 
pected  to  see  Captain  Nicker  son  jolted  from 
his  perch  in  the  crow's  nest,  high  on  the  fore 
mast.  Then  the  ship  would  back  away  again 
at  the  captain's  order,  leaving  a  three-cornered 
dent  in  the  ice.  Again  and  again  she  would 
rush  at  this  dent  with  her  great  weight  under 


Tin:  i.  i: 


BUCKING  ICE  IN   BERING  SEA  69 

full  head  of  steam,  till  the  floe  would  split,  and 
leave  a  narrow  crack  through  which  the  ves 
sel  could  crowd  her  way.  Thus  for  several 
days  they  hammered  their  way  on  through 
the  pack,  until  they  reached  its  northwestern 
edge,  where  open  water  gave  them  free  pas 
sage  to  the  ice-bound  shores  of  east  Siberia. 
There  they  came  to  anchor  under  a  headland, 
and  though  it  was  mid-June  and  did  not  seem 
cold,  were  greeted  by  a  storm  of  snow  that 
came  scurrying  down  from  the  snow-clad  hills 
inland. 

Next  day  it  cleared,  and  the  skin  topeks  of 
a  Chuckchis  vilkge  could  be  seen  on  the  bar 
ren  shore.  A  strip  of  shore  ice  still  separated 
them  from  the  land,  but  the  natives  came  drag 
ging  their  umiaks  across  this  and  then  put  to 
sea  in  them,  soon  paddling  alongside.  There 
were  a  dozen  or  more  in  each  boat,  men,  wo 
men,  and  children,  all  clad  much  alike  in  wal 
rus-hide  seal-top  boots,  sealskin  trousers,  and 
a  hooded  coat  of  reindeer  fur  which  extended 
nearly  to  the  knee.  Men  and  women  and  the 
older  children  alike  paddled,  and  the  walrus- 
hide  boats  made  rapid  progress  over  the 
waves.  Once  alongside  they  made  fast  and 
came  aboard,  all  hands,  smiling  and  silent, 
sitting  or  standing  for  a  time  until  addressed 


70  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

by  some  one  who  was  or  seemed  to  be  in  au 
thority.  Then  they  spoke,  and  conversation 
was  soon  general.  It  was  limited,  however. 
Many  of  the  men  know  considerable  English 
of  the  "pigeon"  variety,  and  most  of  the 
whalers  are  familiar  with  the  trade  language 
of  the  Eskimos  of  Bering  Sea  and  the  straits, 
which  consists  of  Eskimo,  mingled  with  words 
and  phrases  picked  up  from  the  whalers  and 
traders,  and  originating  Heaven  knows  where. 
Possibly  some  are  Kanaka  words  transplanted 
far  north.  Others  are  words  invented  by  the 
sailors  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  which,  once 
applied  by  the  natives,  have  been  adopted  into 
general  use. 

Each  native  had  a  sealskin  poke  which  he 
carried  slung  over  his  shoulder  by  a  rawhide 
thong,  and  which  consisted  of  the  skin  of 
the  ordinary  Arctic  seal  taken  off  whole,  and 
tanned  with  the  hair  on.  A  slit  was  cut  in  the 
side  of  this,  making  a  sort  of  traveling-bag, 
in  which  he  carried  articles  which  he  was  to 
offer  for  trade.  Within  these  pokes  were  wal 
rus  tusks,  plain  and  carved,  some  elaborately ; 
walrus  teeth  carved  into  grotesque  imitations 
of  little  animals ;  "  muckalucks,"  the  trade 
word  for  the  native  skin-boot ;  "  artekas,"  or 
coats  of  reindeer  skin ;  furs  of  ermine,  mink, 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  71 

otter,  and  the  hair  seal ;  in  fact,  anything 
which  the  mersinker  could  find  at  home  that 
he  thought  the  whalemen  might  fancy.  None 
of  these  goods  were  offered  on  deck,  however. 
Each  waited  until  the  captain,  sitting  in  state- 
in  his  cabin,  sent  for  him  ;  then  one  by  one 
they  went  down  to  trade.  After  each  man 
had  made  what  bargain  he  could  with  Captain 
Nickerson,  he  brought  what  was  left  to  the 
deck,  and  there  traded  freely  with  the  sailors. 
As  supercargo,  Harry  sat  in  the  cabin  with 
Captain  Nickerson,  and  kept  account  of  each 
trade  as  it  was  made,  having  good  opportu 
nity  to  watch  the  methods  of  the  natives. 
He  found  them  very  clever  at  barter,  Captain 
Nickerson,  Yankee  that  he  was,  often  meeting 
his  match  in  some  stolid  native,  who  seemed 
to  have  a  very  clear  idea  of  what  he  wanted, 
and  how  to  get  it.  The  first  day  of  trading 
was  merely  preliminary,  however,  the  natives 
bringing  off  their  least  valuable  goods  for 
barter,  reserving  the  best  of  the  ivory,  and  all 
the  bone,  until  they  found  how  prices  were 
going,  and  whether  the  ship  held  such  supplies 
as  they  needed  or  not.  Their  first  demand 
seemed  to  be  for  hard  bread,  of  which  they 
are  very  fond.  For  this  they  offered,  as  a 
rule,  the  muckaluck,  or  native  boot.  Calico, 


72  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

as  they  had  learned  to  call  all  forms  of  cloth, 
came  next ;  then  flour  in  bags,  and  later  am 
munition,  rifles,  and  trade  goods.  Of  brown 
sugar  they  were  desirous,  and  chewing  tobacco 
was  asked  for  almost  as  soon  as  the  hard-tack. 
This  they  called  kowkow  tobacco,  or  eating 
tobacco,  from  their  trade  word  "  kowkow," 
meaning  to  eat.  Harry  made  note  of  the 
Eskimo  words  as  he  heard  them  used,  and 
picked  up  a  working  vocabulary,  with  the  help 
of  his  notebook,  in  a  very  short  time.  Before 
the  first  day's  trading  was  over  he  had  begun 
to  understand  what  was  meant,  and  by  the 
end  of  the  third  day  he  astonished  Joe  with 
his  fluency.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  vocabu 
lary  thus  far  consisted  of  only  forty  words  or 
so ;  but  as  they  were  the  ones  in  most  constant 
use,  it  made  him  seem  quite  a  linguist.  From 
this  time  forward  he  took  great  pains  to  jot 
down  a  new  word  and  its  meaning  as  soon 
as  he  heard  it,  getting  many  from  the  offi 
cers  and  crew,  and  this  quick  acquisition  of 
the  language  was  to  stand  him  in  good  stead 
later  on. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day  trading  had 
ceased.  There  were  great  piles  of  deerskins, 
muckalucks,  and  small  furs,  several  hundred 
pounds  of  not  very  good  bone,  quite  a  quantity 


BUCKING  ICE   IN  BERING  SEA  73 

of  ivory,  and  many  trinkets  and  curios.  Harry 
wondered  greatly  as  to  the  destination  of 
much  of  this  stuff. 

"  Are  reindeer  skins  worth  much  in  the 
States  ?"  he  asked  Captain  Nickerson  once,  as 
the  pile  grew  larger  at  the  expense  of  much 
flour  and  calico. 

"  I  don't  think  there  is  any  market,"  replied 
the  captain,  "  though  it  is  hard  to  see  why. 
The  fur  is  very  thick  and  warm,  the  skin  light, 
and  should  make  most  excellent  lap  robes  and 
carriage  robes,  just  as  the  buffalo  fur  once  did. 
We  shall  trade  them  again  when  we  meet  the 
Eskimos  on  the  other  side  of  the  straits. 
The  caribou  is  scarce  over  there,  and  they 
gladly  exchange  fox,  ermine,  and  bear  skins 
for  them.  These  we  can  dispose  of  readily  in 
Frisco." 

A  good  quantity  of  bone  was  in  hand,  but 
it  was  only  a  part  of  what  the  natives  had 
taken,  as  the  captain  knew.  Two  whales  had 
been  their  good  fortune  as  the  ice  came  down 
the  fall  before,  and  a  third  had  come  to  them 
that  spring  as  the  gift  of  the  orcas.  These 
eat  the  lip  and  the  soft  tongue  of  the  bowhead, 
leaving  the  carcass  to  float  ashore.  Hence 
the  mersinker  looks  upon  the  orca  with  a  sort 
of  veneration  as  a  provider  of  great  and  val- 


74  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

uabie  gifts,  and  has  certain  ceremonies  which 
he  goes  through  each  year  as  an  invocation  to 
him  and  an  expression  of  gratitude.  The 
mersinker,  in  fact,  is  a  man  of  many  ceremo 
nials,  the  reason  for  which  he  does  not  know, 
but  which  he  follows  because  his  father  did  the 
same  before  him.  These  three  whales  had  been 
small  ones,  but  there  must  have  been  far  more 
bone  from  them  than  the  natives  brought  to 
the  ship  for  sale.  The  balance  they  were 
keeping  back  for  further  trading  with  other 
ships,  nor  was  it  possible  to  get  them  to  bring 
this  out,  even  by  offering  increased  value  for 
it.  They  held  it  in  reserve,  as  is  their  custom, 
hoping  that  the  next  ship  would  bring  goods 
which  they  would  care  for  more  than  those  at 
hand. 

Captain  Nickerson  wished  to  purchase  some 
reindeer  for  fresh  meat,  but  none  were  at  the 
coast.  The  deermen  were  said  to  be  sta 
tioned  in  a  valley  half  a  dozen  miles  in  the 
interior,  and  he  decided  to  send  an  expedi 
tion  inland  in  search  of  some.  A  coast  na 
tive  volunteered  as  guide,  and  brought  along 
a  sledge  and  dog  team  for  the  transporta 
tion  of  supplies.  Mr.  Jones,  the  taciturn  first 
mate,  was  detailed  in  command  of  this  ex 
pedition,  and  Harry  and  Joe  were  allowed  to 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  75 

go,  with  many  injunctions  to  be  careful  not 
to  get  into  trouble  with  the  Chow  Chuen,  as 
the  deermen  call  themselves. 

It  was  a  perfect  June  day  when  they  set 
off.  There  was  no  breath  of  wind,  and  the 
sun  shone  brilliantly  as  they  landed  on  the 
shore  ice,  transferred  their  supplies  to  the 
slfdge,  and  set  off  through  the  native  village 
toward  the  hills.  They  had  instructions  not 
to  be  gone  longer  than  over  one  night,  and  it 
was  agreed  that  a  signal  of  trouble  and  need 
of  assistance  should  be  three  shots  repeated  in 
quick  succession.  Such  precautions  were  ne 
cessary  as  the  Chow  Chuen,  though  generally 
willing  to  barter,  are  of  uncertain  temper,  and 
even  the  mersinkers  are  not  to  be  trusted  when 
they  seem  to  have  an  advantage.  Harry  and 
Joe  tramped  on  ahead  of  the  company,  the 
Eskimo  following  with  his  team  and  sledge, 
and  Mr.  Jones  bringing  up  the  rear.  The 
air  was  warm,  and  on  bare  spots  the  spring 
grass  was  already  growing  through  the  tundra 
moss,  but  the  snow  still  covered  most  of  the 
earth,  and  the  trail  lay  across  it,  well  trodden. 

Each  boy  carried  a  rifle  and  was  well  sup 
plied  with  cartridges,  while  Harry  had  in 
addition  a  small  camera  slung  over  his  shoul 
der  by  a  strap.  The  boys  were  in  high  glee  at 


76  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  outing,  after  the  long  confinement  aboard 
ship,  and  rollicked  along  well  ahead  of  the 
others.  Yet  their  progress  was  slow,  the  way 
winding,  and  it  was  lunch  time  and  yet  they 
had  not  reached  the  upland  valley,  where  the 
camp  of  the  deermen  was  said  to  be.  A 
few  dry  twigs  of  willow  —  the  only  growth 
of  wood,  and  this  in  the  main  creeping  vine 
fashion,  and  rising  only  to  a  height  of  two  or 
three  feet  —  were  found  to  feed  a  fire,  and  a 
pot  of  tea  was  boiled.  Then  after  the  men 
had  taken  a  hasty  smoke,  the  journey  was 
resumed.  It  was  mid-afternoon  when  they 
seemed  to  be  reaching  the  summit  of  a  low 
divide.  The  six  miles  had  stretched  into  a 
dozen,  and  there  was  no  sign  of  human  life 
among  the  hills,  only  the  beaten  trail  leading 
steadily  on  over  the  snow.  The  mate  had 
seemed  anxious  for  an  hour  or  so,  and  had 
swung  into  the  lead  along  with  the  boys. 

"  Home  pretty  soon,"  he  said,  wasting  no 
words ;  "  most  far  enough."  A  moment  after, 
they  rounded  a  ledge  of  broken  basaltic  rock, 
and  looked  down  upon  a  scene  of  pastoral  life 
such  as  only  the  extreme  north  of  Asia  can 
show.  A  brown  and  sheltered  valley  wound 
among  the  rude  hills.  It  was  bare  of  snow 
in  the  main,  and  the  golden  brown  moss,  with 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  77 

which  it  was  carpeted,  showed  green  with 
grasses  already  springing  in  it.  In  scattered 
groups  about  this  grazed  several  hundred  rein- 
Jeer,  many  brown  in  color,  some  piebald,  the 
old  ones  bearing  branching  antlers,  the  fawns 
spotted,  and  gamboling  like  any  young  deer. 
Here  and  there,  fur-clad  herders  watched 
them,  and  there  was  a  little  group  of  large 
skin  topeks  at  one  side  of  the  valley  not  far 
off,  the  homes  of  the  herders  and  their  fami 
lies.  Thither  they  turned,  the  coast  native 
taking  the  lead  now.  They  were  near  the 
little  hut  hamlet  before  any  one  took  notice 
of  them,  when  a  man  suddenly  appeared  with 
a  rifle  in  his  hands.  He  was  taller  than  the 
coast  native,  and  seemed  more  robust.  He 
fearlessly  pointed  the  rifle  at  the  approaching 
party. 

"  Way  enough !  "  shouted  Mr.  Jones. 
"Hold  water!" 

At  a  wave  of  his  hand  the  Eskimo  went 
ahead  resolutely,  his  hands  held  up  palm 
forward  as  a  sign  of  peace,  and  shouting, 
"  Nagouruk  !  Nagouruk  !  " 

The  deerman  lowered  the  muzzle  of  his 
rifle,  and  the  two  talked  for  a  moment.  Then 
the  Eskimo  made  a  sign  for  the  party  to  come 
forward.  The  deerman  met  them  with  the 


78  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

word  "Nagouruk,"  which  means  "Good,"  in 
token  of  friendship,  and  talked  with  the  Es 
kimo  volubly  in  a  dialect  that  no  one  in  the 
party  could  make  much  of.  The  other,  who 
could  speak  some  English,  explained  that  it 
was  doubtful  if  deer  could  be  bought.  It 
had  been  a  bad  winter,  many  had  died  in  the 
deep  snow,  and  they  wished  to  let  the  herd 
increase  during  the  spring  and  summer,  lest 
they  face  starvation  next  winter.  In  any 
case,  it  would  be  necessary  to  consult  the 
head  deerman,  and  he  would  send  for  him. 

"  Watch  out,"  said  Mr.  Jones  to  Joe  and 
Harry.  "  Don't  like  this  gang." 

The  deermen's  topeks  numbered  about  half 
a  dozen,  scattered  along  the  sunny  side  of  an 
abrupt  turn  in  the  cliff  which  bordered  the 
valley's  edge.  The  deerman  lifted  the  flap 
of  one  of  these,  and  motioned  them  to  enter. 
A  crowd  of  curious  women  and  children,  the 
smaller  of  these  latter  perched  on  their 
mothers'  shoulders  astride  their  necks,  had 
begun  to  gather.  Men  came  running  up 
from  the  other  topeks,  and  the  little  party 
was  soon  being  stared  at,  criticised,  and  even 
poked  and  hustled,  in  half-curious,  half-inso 
lent  fashion.  The  Chow  Chuen  are  certainly 
no  respecters  of  persons.  They  hate  and  dis- 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  79 

trust  the  white  man,  but  they  do  not  fear 
him. 

Mr.  Jones  hesitated.  Then  he  motioned 
to  Harry  to  stand  by  the  sled.  "Stand  watch, 
will  you?  "  he  said.  "  Keep  'em  off.  Don't 
get  gallied." 

Harry,  rifle  in  hand,  took  his  stand  by  the 
sled,  while  the  other  three  entered  the  topek. 
The  Alaskan  coast  native  builds  a  small  sum 
mer  shelter,  but  the  Siberian  coast  native,  and 
the  deermen  of  the  uplands  inland,  build 
great  ones,  sometimes  thirty  feet  in  diameter. 
These  are  covered  with  skins,  held  down 
with  rawhide  ropes  and  stone  weights  against 
the  furious  gales  of  that  country.  Within 
is  a  central  common  space  surrounded  by 
smaller  rooms,  made  by  deerskin  curtains. 
They  found  this  central  room  empty,  but  a 
rustling  behind  the  curtains  showed  that  the 
others  were  tenanted.  The  deerman  bade 
them  wait  and  went  out,  soon  returning  with 
another  of  his  kind  who  seemed  to  be  the 
head  man,  and  followed  by  half  a  dozen 
others.  Then  the  bargaining  began,  the 
Eskimo  acting  as  interpreter,  and  signs  filling 
up  the  spaces  where  words  failed. 

Meanwhile,  Harry  was  very  busy  outside, 
and  somewhat  worried.  The  entire  popula- 


80  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

tion  of  the  hamlet  seemed  bent  on  investi 
gating  him  thoroughly.  They  made  derisive 
remarks  about  his  clothing,  and  tried  to  put 
their  hands  in  his  pockets,  which  they  seemed 
to  admit  to  one  another  were  good  things  to 
have.  One  man  took  off  his  hat  and  started 
to  put  it  on  his  own  head,  amid  laughter  from 
his  comrades.  He  seemed  to  resent  it  when 
Harry  snatched  it  away,  and  touched  his  knife 
significantly.  But  when  one  attempted  to  re 
lieve  him  of  his  watch  and  chain  he  was  forced 
to  draw  back  hastily,  for  Harry  felt  that  the 
limit  of  patience  was  about  reached,  and 
cocked  and  pointed  his  rifle  threateningly. 
The  others  seemed  to  enjoy  the  hurried  re 
treat  of  this  man,  and  to  deride  him  for 
cowardice.  However,  the  men  kept  out  of 
arm's  reach  after  this.  Not  so  the  women  and 
children.  Their  attentions  were  not  only  to 
himself,  but  to  the  sled ;  and  he  soon  saw 
that  under  their  carelessness  was  a  systematic 
attempt  to  cast  off  the  lashings  and  get  at 
the  goods  there.  During  all  this  annoyance 
he  happened  to  think  of  his  camera,  and  de 
cided  that  at  least  he  could  get  a  picture  or 
two  to  counterbalance  the  trouble.  So,  un- 
slinging  it  from  his  back,  he  slipped  the 
little  instrument  from  its  case,  drew  out  the 


BUCKING  ICE   IN   BERING  SEA  81 

bellows  to  the  universal  focus,  and  proceeded 
to  point  it  at  the  most  picturesque  of  the 
insolent  group.  The  effect  was  magical. 
They  tumbled  backward  from  the  machine 
with  alarm.  When  they  saw  the  flick  of  the 
shutter  as  he  pressed  the  button,  they  threw 
their  hands  before  their  eyes  and  retreated, 
repeating  a  word  which  he  did  not  under 
stand,  but  which  he  learned  later  meant 
"  magic." 

This  amused  Harry  greatly,  and  afterward 
he  had  only  to  point  the  camera  to  widen  the 
circle  about  him ;  and  to  take  a  new  picture 
was  to  send  arms  flying  to  the  faces  that 
were  in  range.  They  seemed  to  think  some 
thing  would  come  from  it  to  injure  their  eye 
sight.  They  resented  this  threat,  however, 
and  there  were  black  looks  on  the  ugly  faces 
of  the  men  when  the  mate  and  the  head  deer- 
man  appeared  from  the  topek  followed  by  the 
others.  The  bargain  had  been  satisfactorily 
concluded,  and  the  deermen  went  off  to  drive 
in  the  purchased  reindeer,  while  Jones  and 
his  lieutenants  took  the  goods  from  the  sled. 
The  crowd  of  fur-clad  Chow  Chuen  stood 
about,  but  kept  a  respectful  distance  from  the 
camera. 

But  when  the  half-dozen  deer  were  driven 


82  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

up,  there  were  fresh  complications.  Mr.  Jones 
was  about  to  slaughter  them  at  once,  and  had 
passed  the  goods  over  to  the  head  deerman, 
when  a  great  outcry  arose.  The  deermen 
flocked  about  the  Eskimo,  and  seemed  to  de 
mand  that  he  tell  the  whites  something,  which 
he  did. 

"  No  kill.  No  kill,"  cried  the  Eskimo  in 
much  alarm  ;  "  Chow  Chuen  kill." 

"  Well,  tell  them  to  go  ahead  and  do  it, 
then,"  roared  Mr.  Jones,  so  angry  that  he  was 
fluent.  "  It 's  nightfall  now,  and  we  've  got 
a  long  road  ahead  of  us." 

The  Eskimo  was  much  disturbed.  He  ex 
plained,  with  a  strange  mingling  of  Eskimo 
with  his  scant  English  vocabulary,  that  there 
was  a  ceremonial  to  be  gone  through  with 
first.  It  could  not  be  done  at  nightfall,  they 
must  wait  the  rising  sun.  "  One  sleep,"  he 
said.  "Nanaku  kile.  Bimeby  he  come," 
pointing  to  the  sun.  "Mucky"  (Dead),  with 
a  sweep  of  his  hand  toward  the  reindeer. 

In  vain  Mr.  Jones  stormed  with  picturesque 
and  unexpectedly  voluble  profanity ;  the  deer- 
men  were  determined.  The  head  deerman 
ordered  the  goods  brought  out  and  laid  at 
the  feet  of  the  company,  scornfully  waving 
his  hand  toward  the  home  trail,  indicating 


BUCKING  ICE  IN   BERING  SEA  83 

plainly  that  they  might  consider  the  trade  off, 
but  he  would  not  have  the  deer  slaughtered 

o 

then.  Mr.  Jones  would  not  return  without 
them,  and  so  they  waited. 

"  Tell  him,"  he  said  sulkily,  "  we  '11  wait 
till  sunrise." 

The  Eskimo  explained,  and  this  seemed  to 
clear  matters  somewhat.  Some  tobacco  of 
fered  them  helped  still  more ;  and  the  head 
man  drove  the  crowd  away,  evidently  telling 
them  to  go  about  their  business,  which  they 
did  reluctantly.  He  conducted  the  party 
down  the  line  of  topeks  to  one  which  was 
near  the  end,  and  told  them  that  that  was  to 
be  their  habitation  for  the  night. 

"  We  '11  stand  watch  and  watch,"  said  Mr. 
Jones,  as  they  entered  this ;  "  no  knowing 
what  these  rapscallions  will  try  to  do  to  us,  if 
we  all  go  to  sleep." 

The  interior  of  this  smaller  topek  was  all 
one  room,  and  there  were  no  traces  of  former 
occupancy,  which  was  satisfactory.  It  gave 
promise  of  reasonable  cleanliness,  which  could 
not  be  said  of  the  others.  It  was  no  doubt 
a  storehouse  not  in  present  use.  The  sled, 
their  blankets,  and  belongings  were  hauled 
inside ;  the  dogs  were  tied  to  the  tent-poles 
outside,  and  the  Eskimo  disposed  of  himself 


84  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

as  best  he  might.  Joe  stood  the  first  watch, 
while  Harry  and  Mr.  Jones  rolled  themselves 
in  blankets  on  the  mossy  floor  of  the  topek 
and  were  soon  asleep.  It  was  still  light, 
though  the  sun  was  behind  the  northern 
mountains.  Indeed,  in  June  in  that  latitude, 
there  is  but  a  brief  interval  of  dusk  at  mid 
night.  The  deermen  retired  to  their  topeks, 
except  those  on  watch  with  the  herd,  and 
save  for  the  howl  of  an  occasional  wolf-like 
dog,  peace  reigned. 

At  midnight  Joe  woke  Harry,  and  he  went 
on  guard.  A  gray  dusk  hung  over  everything, 
there  was  a  sharp  chill  in  the  air.  All  things 
seemed  touched  with  a  white  fungous  growth, 
which  was  frost.  From  behind  the  northern 
mountains  the  sun  shot  dancing  streamers 
like  aurora  halfway  up  the  sky.  The  whole 
scene  was  beautiful  but  strange,  and  gave 
Harry  a  sense  of  the  ghostly  and  supernatu 
ral  which  was  hard  to  shake  off,  and  which  he 
was  often  to  feel  still  more  vividly  as  he  saw 
more  of  Arctic  nights.  The  prowling,  howl 
ing  bands  of  Chow  Chuen  dogs  loomed  large 
in  the  uncertain  light,  and  it  seemed  hard  not 
to  believe  that  they  were  bands  of  wolves  bent 
on  destruction.  He  was  glad  indeed  when 
the  first  glimpse  of  the  sun  came  over  the 


A  SIBERIAN  TOPEK 


BUCKING  ICE  IN  BERING  SEA  85 

mountains  to  the  northeast,  and  it  was  time  to 
call  Mr.  Jones.  The  night  had  passed,  and 
they  were  not  molested. 

With  the  sunrise  the  whole  hamlet  was  astir 
for  the  ceremony  of  the  slaughter  of  the  rein 
deer.  The  six  deer  purchased  were  led  up, 
and  the  shaman  of  the  village  appeared  from 
his  lodge,  which  was  decorated  with  strange 
devices  and  carved  images.  He  held  in  his 
hand  a  long,  sharp  knife,  and  as  he  passed 
Harry  the  boy  inadvertently  drew  back,  so 
fierce  and  sinister  was  the  look  on  his  evil 
face.  Each  deer  in  turn  was  led  up  to  him 
and  faced  to  the  east.  The  shaman  held  his 
knife  toward  the  sun,  recited  something  that 
seemed  like  a  liturgy,  then  with  one  thrust 
sent  the  keen  knife  full  to  the  heart  of  his 
victim.  With  a  bleat  the  animal  fell  to  its 
knees,  then  rolled  over  dead,  and  the  shaman, 
rushing  forward,  caught  the  blood  from  the 
wound  in  his  palm,  scattering  it  toward  the 
sun  with  more  words,  or  perhaps  the  same, 
of  the  ritual.  Thus  each  deer  was  slain,  and 
in  a  twinkling  was  fallen  upon  by  the  Chow 
Chuen  and  the  entrails  removed.  The  bodies 
were  then  placed  on  the  sled,  and  it  was  evi 
dent  that  the  adventurers  might  take  their 
departure,  which  they  were  glad  to  do.  A 


86  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

mile  or  two  down  the  trail  they  breakfasted 
on  deer  steak,  broiled  over  the  few  willow 
twigs  they  were  able  to  find,  and  went  on, 
reaching  the  ship  at  midday.  Captain  Nick- 
erson  received  them  gladly  and  was  pleased  at 
their  success,  but  had  a  long  conference  with 
the  Eskimo.  Then  only  they  learned  that 
the  treacherous  and  ugly  Chow  Chuen  had 
been  much  incensed  at  their  wish  to  take  the 
deer  and  slaughter  them  without  the  legend 
ary  rites  of  the  tribes,  and  would  have  at 
tempted  to  murder  them  during  the  night. 
The  Eskimo  had  dilated  upon  the  strange 
power  of  the  little  "  magic  box,"  which  he 
told  them  could  take  each  man's  image  and 
carry  it  away  (he  having  seen  photographs 
taken  with  a  similar  one  by  previous  visiting 
white  men),  and  crafty  and  superstitious  as 
they  are  fierce,  the  deermen  wisely  decided 
to  let  the  strangers  alone.  No  doubt  the  fact 
that  they  stood  armed  watch  had  its  effect  as 
well. 

The  next  day  a  southeasterly  gale  sprang 
up,  and  the  vessel  was  obliged  to  hoist  anchor 
and  get  away  from  the  dangerous  coast. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    LITTLE    MEN    OF   THE   DIOMEDES 

IN  the  unremembered  ages  it  is  probable  that 
the  extreme  end  of  Asia,  which  is  East  Cape, 
Siberia,  was  joined  to  the  extreme  western 
end  of  America,  which  is  Cape  Prince  of 
Wales,  Alaska.  No  tradition  remains  of  the 
time  when  the  sea  broke  through  this  slender 
barrier,  yet  even  now  it  is  but  about  thirty 
miles  in  a  straight  line  across,  and  on  clear 
days  from  the  mountains  of  one  promontory 
the  other  can  be  faintly  discerned.  There  is 
a  halfway  station,  too,  two  storm-beaten  is 
lands  which  lift  rocky  crests  of  grim  granite 
in  the  very  middle  of  the  hurly-burly  of  the 
straits.  These  are  the  Diomede  Islands,  the 
greater  belonging  to  Russia,  the  lesser  to 
America,  and  the  space  between  the  two  is  so 
narrow  that  it  seems  in  bright  weather  as  if 
one  could  almost  throw  a  stone  across,  though 
in  reality  it  is  more  than  a  mile  —  farther 
than  it  looks.  Across  this  slender  land  path 
in  those  forgotten  years  came  one  race  after 


88  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

another  from  Central  Asia,  which  was  the 
birthplace  of  races,  pressing  southward  and 
peopling  the  Western  hemisphere  with  tribes, 
of  which  scant  traces  remain  in  some  in 
stances,  while  in  others  their  degenerate  de 
scendants  are  still  fading  before  the  westward 
rush  of  civilization.  Individuals  cross  this 
narrow  barrier  of  tempestuous  sea  still,  but 
races  come  no  more,  and  we  find  on  the  half 
way  station  of  the  Diomedes  a  remnant  of 
some  ancient  people  that  has  stranded  there 
and  made  a  home  where  it  seems  scarcely 
possible  that  human  creatures  could  live  the 
year  round. 

Here  during  the  recent  centuries  met  the 
Asiatic  and  Alaskan  Eskimos,  to  trade  and 
fight ;  and  the  bold,  bare  cliffs  have  been  the 
scene  of  many  a  bloody  battle.  Now  even 
this  custom  has  passed,  and  the  men  from  one 
side  of  the  straits  rarely  meet  those  of  the 
other ;  but  the  little  remnant  of  an  unknown 
people,  who  stranded  there  no  one  knows  how 
long  ago,  still  cling  to  their  rocky  islets  and 
live  as  did  their  forefathers.  You  may  find 
among  them  some  who  bear  the  mark  of  the 
Chuckchis,  some  who  are  more  like  the  Alas 
kan  Eskimos,  but  the  little  folk,  while  having 
the  manners  and  customs  of  each,  have  char- 


THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE   DIOMEDES     89 

acteristics  which  belong  to  neither.  Hardly 
five  feet  in  height,  they  are  too  small  to  have 
battled  successfully  with  their  more  robust 
brethren,  but  they  make  up  in  slyness  and 
ability  what  they  lack  in  brute  strength. 
They  are  shy  and  reticent,  clever  workmen, 
clever  thieves,  and  cleverest  of  all  in  trading. 

No  vegetation  save  grass  and  chickweed 
grows  on  their  cliffs.  They  build  their  dwell 
ings  of  flat  stones  banked  with  scant  earth, 
and  the  icy  sea,  which  rims  them  round  and 
seems  to  threaten  with  certain  death,  is  their 
father  and  their  mother  in  that  it  provides  all 
they  have  in  the  world.  In  the  brief  sum 
mer  an  occasional  log  of  driftwood  is  thrown 
against  their  cliffs,  and  from  this  they  fashion 
their  canoe  frames  and  their  spear  handles. 
During  all  the  cold  and  cruel  winter  the  ice 
floes  which  crash  and  grind  against  the  worn 
granite  of  their  islands  bring  the  seal  and 
walrus  and  the  polar  bear.  These  and  the 
myriad  sea  birds  of  summer  are  their  sup 
plies. 

For  many  days  the  southerly  gale  which 
had  driven  the  Bowhead  from  the  Siberian 
shore  kept  her  in  much  danger.  The  sea 
room  was  narrow,  ice-floes  came  driving  down 
before  the  wind,  it  was  impossible  to  get 


90  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

sight  of  the  sun  to  find  the  ship's  position, 
and  the  drift  of  the  current  toward  the  straits 
was  an  unknown  factor.  Most  of  the  time 
the  vessel  jogged  under  reefed  topsails,  with 
steam  up  for  use  in  an  emergency,  and  Cap 
tain  Nickerson  was  almost  constantly  on  deck. 
Thick  clouds  made  the  nights  longer,  and 
very  dark,  and  Harry  had  a  chance  to  see  the 
full  danger  of  Arctic  navigation. 

It  was  in  the  gloom  of  one  of  these  nights 
that  he  stood  on  deck.  The  vessel  heeled  to 
the  gale,  now  and  then  an  icy  wave  sent 
a  rush  of  spray  over  the  windward  rail,  the 
wind  howled  and  wailed  in  the  tense  shrouds, 
and  an  eerie  glow  seemed  to  show  in  the 
darkness  without  lighting  it,  as  if  dull  fires 
burned  behind  the  cloud  curtains.  It  seemed 
to  Harry  as  if  they  were  blown  about  in  chaos, 
a  place  dreary,  ghostly,  and  lonely  beyond 
expression.  He  shuddered  and  thought  of 
the  people  at  home,  happy  in  the  bright  June 
weather.  For  the  first  time  he  was  sorry  for 
himself,  and  homesick.  He  thought  with  a 
great  longing  of  the  broad  veranda  looking 
out  upon  the  bay,  of  his  mother  sitting  there, 
and  he  seemed  with  his  mind's  eye  to  see  Mai- 
sie,  in  a  pretty  white  gown,  flitting  gayly  across 
the  lawn  toward  the  boats.  Then  out  of  the 


THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE  DIOMEDES     91 

night  came  a  wild,  despairing  cry,  and  some 
thing  fluttered  aboard,  crashed  against  the 
mizzen  rigging,  and  fell  in  a  draggled  white 
heap  at  his  feet.  The  thought  of  Maisie  was 
so  strong  that  he  sprang  forward,  with  a  great 
cry  of  alarm,  to  pick  her  up  where  she  had 
fallen,  when  a  sudden  tremendous  gust  of  the 
gale  threw  the  Bowhead  on  her  beam  ends. 
A  wall  of  white  water  roared  down  upon  him, 
lifted  him  up  with  Maisie  in  his  arms,  and  he 
went  out  into  the  night  with  it,  still  clinging 
to  the  limp  figure  he  had  clutched  as  he  went 
down. 

It  was  well  for  Harry  that  the  same  sea 
that  sent  him  overboard  sent  with  him  a  coil 
of  line  from  a  belaying-pin,  where  it  hung 
against  the  mizzenmast.  The  whirl  of  the 
wave  wound  this  round  him,  and  the  great 
boatswain,  whose  watch  on  deck  it  was,  saw 
him  go  out  with  it,  and  finding  it  taut,  and 
something  towing,  hauled  away  at  it  until  he 
could  reach  down  and  get  him  by  the  collar. 
Then  with  one  big  swing  of  his  enormous  arm 
he  landed  him  aboard.  He  set  him  in  a 
heap  on  the  deck,  and  with  a  hand  on  either 
knee  peered  down  at  him  in  the  gloom. 

"  Young  feller/'  he  said,  with  much  emo 
tion,  "  there 's  just  one  thing  I  want  you  to 


92  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

do  for  me  when  we  get  back  to  Frisco.  Do 
you  know  what  that  is  ?  " 

"  What  ?  "  asked  Harry,  wholly  dazed  and 
half  drowned,  replying  mechanically. 

"  I  want  you  to  take  all  the  money  I  get 
this  trip  and  go  and  bet  it  on  something  for 
me.  A  man  that  can  win  out  the  way  you  've 
just  done  could  n't  lose  at  any  game.  Great 
jumping  Jehoshaphat !  what  have  you  got 
here  ?  " 

"  Is  she  all  right  ?  "  asked  Harry,  strug* 
gling  to  his  feet.  He  was  still  dazed,  and  had 
forgotten  all  the  events  of  the  last  two  months. 
It  seemed  to  him  that  it  was  Griggs  speaking, 
and  that  he  had  just  pulled  him  and  Maisie 
out  of  the  Fore  River. 

The  boatswain  took  the  limp  white  figure 
from  his  arms  and  looked  at  it.  It  was  a 
great  white  bird,  quite  dead,  no  doubt  killed 
by  its  crash  against  the  mizzenmast. 

"  Go  below,  my  boy,"  he  said ;  "  and  get 
something  hot  and  turn  in.  You  've  had 
trouble  enough  for  one  night." 

The  great  boatswain  went  forward,  holding 
the  bird  in  one  hand  and  now  and  then  slap 
ping  his  great  leg  with  the  other,  and  letting 
forth  a  roar  of  amazed  laughter. 

"  A   goose,"   he  said ;  "  a  Yukon  goose ! 


THE  LITTLE   MEN  OF  THE   DIOMEDES     93 

Went  overboard  and  came  back  and  brought 
a  Yukon  goose  !  Well,  the  young  feller  is  a 
seven-time  winner.  Bet  ye  we  '11  raise  whales 
this  trip,  all  right."  He  went  forward  to  the 
galley,  where  he  left  his  game,  and  then  went 
back  on  watch. 

As  light  grew  through  the  chaos  of  strug 
gling  mist,  the  cry  of  "  Land  ho !  "  rang  out 
from  the  lookout,  and  the  ship  rounded  to 
so  near  dark  cliffs  that  stretched  upward  into 
the  mists  out  of  sight  that  she  was  fairly  in 
the  wash  of  the  great  waves  that  thundered 
at  their  base.  A  moment  after,  ice  barred 
their  farther  way  on  the  other  tack,  and  a 
great  floe  moved  majestically  along,  bearing 
them  down  toward  the  cliffs.  To  lie  to  was 
to  be  carried  in  and  crushed  between  ice  and 
rocks,  and  Captain  Nickerson,  who  was  on 
deck,  wisely  guessing  that  it  must  be  one  of 
the  Diomedes,  wore  ship  and  ran  before  the 
gale,  coasting  within  sight  of  the  great  rock 
barrier.  A  half  hour  afterward  he  rounded 
to  and  swung  close  up  under  the  lee  of  the 
towering  northeast  cliff  of  the  big  Diomede  ; 
so  close  to  its  sheer  lift  that  one  could  almost 
throw  a  line  ashore. 

Here  was  level  water  indeed,  and  they  were 
safe  from  the  northward  driven  ice-floes,  which 


94  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

would  split  on  the  island's  prow  and  sail  by 
to  port  and  starboard ;  but  they  did  not  escape 
the  wind,  which  came  over  the  heights  in  tre- 

7  o 

mendous  "  willie-waus,"  blowing,  as  the  sailors 
say,  "  up  and  down  like  the  Irishman's  hur 
ricane."  This  seems  to  be  a  peculiarity  of 
the  Arctic  gale.  It  comes  tearing  over  the 
great  heights,  plunges  down  the  steep  face  of 
the  cliffs,  and  striking  the  water  at  their  base 
with  tremendous  velocity,  sends  it  whirling 
out  to  sea  in  great  masses  of  spoondrift  that 
sail  along  the  surface  as  blown  snow  does  in 
winter. 

Two  days  more  the  ship  lay  head  to  the 
cliff,  swinging  to  two  anchors,  then  the  mists 
blew  away,  the  wind  went  down  rapidly,  and 
the  sun  shone  brightly  on  lofty  granite 
heights.  Halfway  up  was  a  little  space  of 
level  ground  like  a  shelf  set  in  a  corner  of 
rock,  and  out  of  holes  in  this  green  level 
came  stubby  fur-clad  men  and  women,  who 
swarmed  down  the  cliff  by  paths  of  their  own 
and  launched  umiaks  from  a  sheltered  little 
hidden  cove,  putting  out  to  the  ship. 

Harry  was  none  the  worse  for  his  sudden 
plunge  overboard  a  few  days  before.  Instead 
of  the  weakness  and  lassitude  which  had  fol 
lowed  his  April  upset  in  the  Fore  River,  there 


THE   LITTLE   MEN   OF  THE   DIOMEDES     95 

came  an  immediate  reaction,  and  he  declared 
a  few  hours  afterward  that  it  had  done  him 
good ;  he  would  do  it  every  day,  if  he  could 
be  sure  of  getting  back  to  the  ship  so  hand 
ily.  The  Arctic  air  was  already  working 
wonders  in  him.  The  experienced  seamen 
shook  their  heads  at  this.  They  knew  well 
that  his  chance  had  been  one  in  a  thousand, 
and  Captain  Nickerson  rated  him  soundly  for 
being  so  careless  as  to  let  a  sea  catch  him  that 
way. 

The  little  men  had  much  walrus  ivory,  but 
not  much  else  that  was  of  value  to  the  ship, 
and  their  trading  did  not  last  long.  They 
did  have  many  curios,  and  Harry  had  an 
opportunity  to  buy  some  of  these  with  the 
"  trade  goods  "  he  had  brought  from  Seattle 
for  the  purpose.  By  Captain  Nickerson's 
advice  he  had  laid  in  a  few  dollars'  worth  of 
rubber  balls,  huge  beads,  little  mirrors,  har 
monicas,  and  trinkets,  and  he  now  found  these 
very  useful.  He  bought  with  them  many  wal 
rus  teeth  ;  the  back  teeth,  which  are  as  large 
as  one's  thumb,  carved  in  grotesque  but  life 
like  shape  of  seals,  bear,  walrus,  and  other 
animals.  Two  bargains  which  he  made  are 
noteworthy  as  showing  the  ways  of  the  little 
people  in  trading.  One  of  these  was  for  an 


96  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

exquisite  pair  of  little  shoes,  soled  with  walrus 
hide  crimped  up  into  miniature  boots,  topped 
with  the  softest  of  fur  from  the  reindeer 
fawn,  and  with  a  bright  edging  of  scarlet 
cloth.  They  were  most  skillfully  fashioned, 
and  tasteful,  for  the  Eskimo  is  a  born  artist, 
and  were  brought  aboard  by  a  young  woman 
who  apparently  was  very  proud  of  them,  and 
wished  rather  to  exhibit  than  to  sell  them. 

Harry,  proud  of  his  newly  acquired  Eskimo, 
asked  her  immediately,  "  Soonoo  pechuckta  ?  " 
(How  much  do  you  want  ?)  but  she  replied  by 
shaking  her  head  and  putting  the  shoes  away 
in  her  fur  gown. 

By  and  by  she  brought  them  out  again  and 
patted  them  lovingly.  Again  Harry  tried  to 
get  her  to  name  a  price  for  them,  and  after 
much  labor  he  got  from  her  the  single  word 
"  Oolik  "  (Blanket). 

"  Soonoo  ?  "  asked  Harry  again. 

"  Tellumuk,"  was  the  answer,  further  em 
phasized  by  holding  up  five  fingers. 

Five  blankets  was  so  obviously  exorbitant 
a  price  that  Harry  could  not  and  would  not 
think  of  giving  it,  so  he  thought  to  tempt 
his  adversary  with  the  offer  of  other  things. 
In  vain  he  brought  out  tin  trumpets,  har 
monicas,  bangles,  beads,  and  even  two  alarm 


THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE   DIOMEDES     97 

clocks,  which  he  had  found  elsewhere  to  be 
greatly  desired  by  the  tribes,  and  offered  them 
singly  and  in  groups ;  the  owner  of  the  little 
shoes  was  determined.  To  all  his  offers  she 
replied  with  fine  scorn,  "  Peluck  "  (No  good), 
and  clung  persistently  to  her  first  price. 

But  Harry,  grown  wise,  took  a  leaf  from 
her  own  book.  He  bethought  him  of  a  little 
plate-glass  mirror,  rimmed  with  scarlet  plush, 
which  he  had  not  offered  thus  far.  It  had 
cost  him  a  dollar  and  a  half  at  Seattle,  but 
he  was  willing  to  trade  it  for  the  shoes.  Yet 
he  was  convinced  that  direct  offer  would  be 
useless.  So  he  brought  it  on  deck,  and  with 
out  looking  at  the  obdurate  young  woman  be 
gan  admiring  his  own  countenance  in  it.  When 
she  took  a  furtive  interest  in  it,  he  thrust  it 
back  in  his  own  pocket.  After  a  little  he  took 
it  out  again,  and  once  more  contemplated  him 
self  in  its  depths.  This  ludicrous  perform 
ance  continued  for  some  time,  and  he  could 
not  tell  whether  or  not  his  adversary  were 
much  interested,  so  cleverly  did  she  veil  her 
thoughts.  By  and  by  her  boatload  of  people 
were  ready  to  go  home,  and  getting  into  the 
umiak,  called  to  her  to  come  with  them.  Harry 
saw  that  she  lingered,  and  he  played  his  last 
card. 


98  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Ah  de  gar !  "  he  exclaimed ;  "  ah  de 
gar !  "  (  Wonderful !  wonderful ! )  and  held 
the  mirror  in  front  of  the  little  woman.  She 
saw  her  own  comely  countenance  in  it,  she 
saw  the  beveled  glass  and  the  vivid  scarlet 
plush,  and  as  Harry  held  out  his  other  hand 
she  gave  a  twitch  of  her  shoulders,  snatched 
the  shoes  from  their  concealment  in  her 
gown,  and  gave  them  to  him.  At  the  same 
time  she  caught  up  the  mirror,  flounced 
down  into  the  umiak,  and  settled  herself  on 
the  bottom,  with  an  air  that  was  ludicrously 
like  that  of  her  civilized  sister  when  angry 
with  herself  for  being  outwitted.  Vanity 
and  curiosity  had  conquered,  but  it  was  the 
only  case  in  all  his  dealings  with  Eskimos  in 
which  Harry  ever  knew  one  of  them  to  name  a 
price  for  an  article  and  then  accept  something 
different. 

The  other  trade,  if  trade  it  could  be  called, 
was  a  different  matter.  It  was  with  the  small 
est  of  the  Eskimo  men  of  another  boat.  He 
had  half  a  dozen  ivory  finger  rings,  carved 
symmetrically  with  a  seal's  head,  or  two  or 
three,  where  stones  would  be.  Harry  sighted 
these  and  wished  to  trade  for  the  bunch,  but 
this  did  not  suit  the  little  man  at  all.  In 
stead,  with  much  pomp  and  much  show  of 


THE   LITTLE   MEN  OF  THE    DIOMEDES     99 

valuing  it  highly,  he  took  one  ring  from  the 
string  and  offered  it  to  Harry,  saying :  — 

"Tobac,  tobac,  tunpanna  kowkow  "  (Eat 
ing  tobacco). 

The  Eskimos  are  not  great  smokers,  a  whiff 
or  two  is  generally  enough  for  them,  but  they 
are  very  fond  of  chewing  tobacco,  or  "  eating 
tobacco  "  as  they  call  it,  and  there  was  a  good 
store  of  this  on  the  ship.  Harry  offered  a 
moderate-sized  piece  for  the  ring  and  then 
wanted  to  purchase  the  second  with  a  similar 
piece.  This  he  could  not  do.  The  crafty 
little  man's  price  had  risen  fivefold,  and  it 
was  only  reluctantly  that  he  parted  with  the 
second  ring  at  the  price  of  five  pieces  of  to 
bacco.  But  when  it  came  to  the  third  one, 
there  seemed  to  be  no  such  thing  as  purchas 
ing  it.  Harry  offered  tobacco  galore,  added 
trinkets  and  trade  goods,  but  the  little  man 
was  obdurate  and  all  chances  of  trade  seemed 
off. 

Harry  remembered  the  shoes  and  the  mir 
ror,  and  did  not  despair.  He  went  down 
to  his  locker  and  brought  out  the  alarm  clock 
again.  He  wound  it  up,  set  the  alarm  for 
a  little  ahead  of  the  moment,  and  took  it 
on  deck.  There  he  set  it  up  on  a  cask  and 
waited.  Several  of  the  Eskimos  gathered 


100  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

round  and  admired  it,  but  the  little  man  only 
looked  at  it  out  of  the  corner  of  his  eye. 

After  a  few  minutes  the  alarm  went  off,  and 
being  a  vigorous  one,  it  startled  the  crowd 
of  little  men  and  women  around  it.  They 
nearly  fell  over  one  another  in  astonishment, 
and  when  Harry  wound  up  the  alarm  and 
set  it  off  again,  their  delight  was  great.  The 
ring-maker  tried  to  assume  an  air  of  indif- 

o 

ference,  but  when  his  boat  was  ready  to  go 
he  came  toward  Harry  as  if  to  offer  to  trade. 
Harry  had  learned  much  of  the  ways  of  the 
Eskimo  trader  by  that  time  and  turned  away 
indifferently.  When  the  boat  was  loaded,  he 
strolled  to  the  side  with  the  clock  in  his  hand. 
The  little  man  held  up  one  ring,  but  he  shook 
his  head.  Then  the  Eskimo  offered  two. 
The  boat  was  just  going,  and  Harry  wanted 
the  rings  so  much  that  he  yielded.  It  would 
make  four  in  all,  which  was  perhaps  all  he 
cared  for  anyway.  He  handed  the  clock  to 
the  little  man,  and  that  worthy  dropped  some 
thing  in  his  palm  as  he  did  so.  At  the  same 
time  he  pointed  toward  the  cliff  and  jabbered 
something  excitedly  in  Eskimo. 

Harry  looked  where  he  pointed  but  saw 
nothing.  The  boat  was  several  lengths  away 
now,  the  click  of  the  windlass  pawl  showed 


THE  LITTLE   MEN  OF  THE   DIOMEDES    101 

that  the  Bowhead's  anchor  was  coming  up, 
and  they  were  off.  The  little  man  was  no 
longer  gesticulating,  but  looked  back  over 
his  shoulder  and  solemnly  winked  one  eye. 
This  was  a  new  feature  in  Eskimo  expres 
sion,  and  Harry  wondered  much  if  a  wink 
meant  as  much  with  these  seemingly  stolid 
people  as  with  us.  As  he  mused,  the  umiak 
rounded  the  cliff  and  was  gone,  and  Harry 
looked  at  his  two  rings  for  the  first  time. 
They  were  not  rings  at  ah1,  only  two  circular 
sections  of  a  walrus  back  tooth,  flat  and  use 
less  disks,  which  the  little  man  may  have 
meant  to  make  into  rings  later. 

Then  he  realized  that  a  wink  is  a  wink  the 
world  over,  and  the  language  of  signs  is  com 
mon  to  all  people. 

The  day  was  bright,  the  gale  was  over,  and 
the  Bowhead  put  to  sea,  once  more  heading 
northward  into  the  mysterious  Arctic,  keep 
ing  a  keen  lookout  for  whales.  The  south 
erly  weather  had  driven  the  ice  of  the  straits 
far  to  the  northward,  and  though  there  was 
now  and  then  a  floating  cake,  the  pack  was 
many  miles  distant. 

"  Suppose  you  could  pull  a  whaleboat  oar  ?  " 
asked  Captain  Nickerson  of  Harry  that  day 
at  dinner. 


102  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Why,  yes,  sir,"  replied  Harry,  "  I  think 
so.  I  'm  a  good  oarsman,  though  I  have 
never  used  quite  such  large  oars  as  you  have 
in  the  whaleboats." 

"  I  'm  sure  he  could,  father,"  said  Joe ; 
"what  of  it?" 

"  Why,  this,"  replied  his  father ;  "  you  've 
been  practically  second  mate  of  the  Bowhead 
ever  since  we  left  Hawaii.  Now  I  think  I 
shall  let  you  take  a  second  mate's  place  in 
charge  of  one  of  the  boats,  and  am  planning 
to  have  Harry  pull  an  oar  in  your  boat." 

Both  boys  turned  red  with  delight  at  this 
prospect,  and  it  was  soon  decided  to  thus  pro 
mote  them  to  the  list  of  regular  whalemen. 
Billy,  an  experienced  Kanaka  harpooner,  was 
assigned  to  their  boat  as  being  a  level-headed, 
skillful  whaleman,  whose  counsel  would  be  of 
use  to  Joe,  and  the  whole  thing  was  arranged. 

If  the  two  boys  had  been  anxious  to  sight 
whales  before,  they  were  doubly  eager  now, 
and  both  spent  as  much  time  as  they  could 
in  the  rigging  on  the  lookout.  It  was  Joe 
who  first  of  the  two  boys  sighted  a  bow- 
head.  The  cry  of  "  A-h-h  blow!  "  had  rung 
from  the  crow's  nest,  and  the  Kanaka  on 
the  watch  there  reported  a  whale  nearly  dead 
ahead.  All  hands  were  on  the  lookout  for 


THE  LITTLE   MEN   OF  THE   DIOMEDES    103 

the  spout  of  this  one,  for  the  Kanakas  in 
many  cases  have  wonderful  eyesight  and  can 
sight  a  whale  much  farther  than  the  aver 
age  white  man,  when,  several  points  off  the 
windward  bow,  Joe  saw  another  blow  and 
loudly  proclaimed  it  from  the  mizzen  rigging. 
A  few  moments  afterward  a  third  and  a  fourth 
were  sighted,  and  the  ship  approached  a  school 
of  black  monsters  numbering  a  dozen  or  so. 
Then  she  rounded  to,  a  little  to  the  windward, 
and  the  boats  were  hastily  lowered.  Harry 
found  himself  at  the  end  of  a  sixteen  -foot 
sweep  that  was  very  different  from  the  oars 
he  had  been  used  to,  but  he  soon  accustomed 
himself  to  the  stroke  and  swung  along  in 
good  time  with  the  others.  He  was  conscious 
of  a  feeling  of  great  elation,  the  thrill  of 
ecstasy  of  the  huntsman  mingled  with  the 
dread  of  the  unknown.  They  seemed  such 
puny  creatures  to  be  attacking  the  greatest 
monster  in  the  world.  As  they  went  on,  both 
these  feelings  increased,  till  he  shook  with 
excitement  and  the  man  behind  him  noticed 
it.  He  was  a  brawny,  grizzly  old  timer, 
bronzed  by  all  the  winds  of  the  world,  and 
hardened  by  many  a  hundred  conflicts  with 
the  whales  of  all  seas. 

"Don't   get   gallied,    younker,"    he    said 


104  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

kindly  ;  "  the  bowhead  ain't  no  whale.  He 's 
jest  a  hundred  tons  or  so  of  blubber  and 
bone.  If  we  was  goin'  up  against  a  sperm 
now,  or  a  fightin'  bull  humpback,  ye  might 
feel  skeery,  but  a  bowhead  ain't  nothin'. 
They  kill  as  easy  as  a  slaughter-house  lamb." 
Just  then  Harry  fairly  jumped  from  his 
seat,  and  lost  his  stroke  for  a  moment.  A 
shout  had  sounded,  and  glancing  over  his 
shoulder  he  saw  that  the  first  mate's  boat 
near  by  had  already  made  fast,  but  had  not 
as  yet  used  the  bomb  gun.  Instead,  the 
whale  seemed  to  have  sounded  too  quickly, 
then  changed  his  mind,  and  as  Harry  looked 
up  over  his  shoulder  he  saw  a  great  black 
mass  rise  fairly  under  the  attacking  boat, 
lifting  it  clear  of  the  water,  where  it  hung 
high  for  a  moment,  then,  by  some  miracle 
still  un capsized,  slid  from  the  broad  mass  as 
if  being  launched.  Even  as  the  boat  left 
the  mountainous  back,  the  mate  leveled  the 
bomb  gun  and  discharged  it  full  into  the 
whale's  side.  There  was  a  shiver,  the  great 
flukes  curled  in  one  sweep  that  sent  tons  of 
spray  into  the  air,  which  Mr.  Jones  with 
a  skillful  sweep  of  the  steering  oar  narrowly 
avoided,  and  then  the  great  black  mass  floated 
quivering  on  the  surface. 


THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE   DIOMEDES    105 

"  I  told  ye  so,  younker,"  said  the  veteran, 
still  swinging  steadily  and  strongly  to  his  oar. 
"  He  's  a  dead  un.  There  ain't  no  fight  in  a 
bow  head.  Ef  that  had  been  a  sperm  bull, 
there  would  n't  have  been  enough  of  that 
boat  left  to  swear  by.  Oh,  this  ain't  whalin', 
this  ain't;  it 's  pickin'  up  blubber." 

Joe,  standing  by  the  steering  oar,  lifted 
his  hand  in  a  gesture  commanding  silence. 
His  eyes  glowered  big  beneath  his  cap,  and 
Harry  knew  that  they  were  close  on  to  their 
game.  A  few  more  strokes  and  then,  "  Way 
enough,"  said  Joe  gently.  They  glided  si 
lently  forward  with  lifted  oars.  It  seemed 
to  Harry  as  if  something  took  him  by  the 
throat  and  stopped  his  breathing.  He  would 
have  given  much  to  look  around,  but  some 
thing  held  him  motionless.  He  heard  the 
stirring  forward  as  the  Kanaka  harpooner 
moved  to  his  position  in  the  very  bow.  Then 
there  was  a  gentle  jolt  and  a  "  Huh  !  "  from 
the  harpooner  as  he  drove  the  iron  home. 

"  Give  it  to  him  !  "  yelled  Joe ;  "  stern 
all !  " 

Harry  backed  water  mechanically,  feeling 
curiously  numb  all  over.  He  heard  the  report 
of  the  gun,  and  saw  something  tremendous 
and  black  beat  the  water  three  times  with 


106  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

great  blows  within  a  few  feet  of  the  blade  of 
his  oar.  A  rush  of  foam  shot  from  these 
blows  and  seemed  to  overwhelm  him  in  a 
smother  of  salt  water.  Then  he  found  him 
self  still  sitting  on  the  thwart,  wet  to  the 
skin  and  up  to  his  knees  in  water,  but  still, 
to  his  great  astonishment,  alive  and  right  side 
up,  and  backing  water  with  mechanical  pre 
cision.  There  was  no  sound  save  the  whir  of 
the  line  through  the  chock  and  the  voice  of 
the  veteran  in  his  ear. 

"  You  're  all  right,  boy,"  it  said.  "  Ye  did 
n't  jump  out,  and  ye  kept  your  oar  a-goin'. 
Ye  '11  make  a  whaleman  'fore  many  days,  an' 
a  good  one,  too.  He  's  soundin'  now,  but 
he  '11  come  up  dead.  The  Kanaka  put  the 
bomb  into  him  right.  He  's  our  whale." 

The  rush  of  the  line  slackened  and  then 
ceased,  and  they  began  to  take  in  on  it.  A 
long  time  they  pulled  steadily,  and  at  last  the 
black  bulk  showed  in  the  wash  of  the  dan 
cing  waves  on  the  surface,  the  nerveless  flip 
per  swaying  in  the  swell,  and  blood  flowing 
from  the  spout-hole.  Joe  and  Harry  had  cap 
tured  their  first  whale  in  regulation  fashion, 
and  two  prouder  boys  it  would  be  hard  to 
fuad.  A  hole  was  cut  in  the  gristle  of  the 
great  flukes,  and  the  work  of  towing  the  mon- 


THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE  D1OMEDES    107 

ster  to  the  ship  was  begun.  Harry  could  not 
put  much  strength  into  his  stroke  at  first,  he 
was  too  weak  with  the  reaction  from  the 
excitement,  but  he  soon  recovered  from  this 
and  tugged  away  manfully. 

A  little  way  ahead  of  them  was  the  first 
mate's  boat  with  an  equally  large  capture  in 
tow ;  astern  was  the  captain's  boat,  which  had 
failed  to  make  fast,  and  which  soon  pulled 
in  to  their  assistance ;  but  the  boatswain  was 
having  the  greatest  adventure  of  them  all. 
He  had  made  fast  to  a  good-sized  whale,  which 
had  immediately  become  gallied,  and  without 
waiting  to  be  reached  by  bomb  gun  or  lance 
had  started  out  at  a  terrific  pace,  headed  ap 
parently  for  the  north  pole.  The  boat  was 
already  almost  out  of  sight  in  the  distance 
and  diminishing  steadily  in  size.  By  and  by 
it  grew  no  smaller,  but  gradually  moved  along 
the  horizon,  proving  that  the  tow  had  changed 
its  course.  Indeed,  it  seems  to  be  well  estab 
lished  that  a  frightened  whale  runs  in  a  cir 
cle,  though  generally  a  very  large  one.  This 
particular  bowhead  had  done  this,  though 
his  circle  was  much  smaller  than  many  would 
have  made.  Thus  it  happened  that  when 
the  two  whales  which  the  first  mate's  boat 
and  Joe's  had  struck  were  alongside,  the 


108  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

boatswain's  was  looming  large  on  the  hori 
zon  again  and  approaching  rapidly.  The  cir 
cle  which  his  whale  had  taken  seemed  to 
include  the  position  of  the  ship  in  a  part  of 
its  circumference.  With  strength  and  viva 
city  quite  unusual  for  a  bowhead,  the  monster 
kept  up  the  pace,  and  had  thus  far  frus 
trated  the  boat's  attempts  to  close  up  and 
kill.  The  boatswain,  seeing  that  the  whale 
was  towing  them  toward  the  ship  again,  had 
ceased  to  attempt  it,  confident  that  even  such 
a  wonder  of  a  pace-setter  would  finally  tire, 
and  wishing  to  be  as  near  the  ship  as  possible 
when  the  final  stroke  was  made.  Much  atten 
tion  to  the  race  was  given  by  those  aboard, 
and  Harry  had  an  uneasy  feeling  that  the 
monster,  even  though  a  proverbially  timid 
bowhead,  was  bent  on  wreaking  vengeance 
on  the  ship.  If  the  huge  creature  should 
hurl  himself  against  it  at  the  pace  at  which 
he  was  coming,  the  result  would  be  wreck 
beyond  a  doubt. 

On  he  came  at  a  great  rate,  ploughing 
through  the  water  like  a  torpedo  boat,  the 
boatswain  now  straining  every  nerve  to  get  up 
with  him,  but  when  the  whale  was  within 
an  eighth  of  a  mile,  there  was  an  unexpected 
interference.  He  swerved  to  the  right,  again 


THE  LITTLE  MEN  OF  THE  DIOMEDES    109 

to  the  left,  sounded  and  then  breached,  and 
the  next  moment  a  mottled  black  and  white 
orca  flung  itself  into  the  air,  turned  end  over 
and,  and  came  down  with  a  tremendous  thud 
in  the  middle  of  the  bowhead's  back. 

A  strange  groaning  bellow  came  from  the 
whale,  but  he  plunged  on  desperately.  Again 
the  orca  launched  its  twenty-five  feet  of  length 
into  the  air  and  came  down  on  the  poor 
bowhead  ;  and  now  another  appeared,  and  the 
two  alternately  beat  the  frenzied  and  ex 
hausted  whale  till  it  apparently  had  what 
little  breath  there  was  left  hammered  out  of 
its  body.  Right  alongside  he  gave  up  the 
fight  and  rolled  motionless  on  the  surface. 
The  bellow  had  already  subsided  to  a  moan  ; 
this  was  followed  by  a  gasp  or  two,  and  the 
bowhead  ceased  to  breathe,  turned  on  his 
side  with  the  flipper  in  the  air,  dead  before 
the  boat  could  get  alongside  and  finish  the 
matter.  The  orcas  had  literally  hammered 
the  exhausted  whale  to  death,  and  were  now 
tearing  at  his  lip  to  get  his  mouth  open  and 
devour  the  soft,  spongy  tongue,  which  is  their 
chief  delight.  They  seemed  to  pay  no  atten 
tion  to  the  ship  or  the  boat,  and  Harry  had  a 
good  opportunity  to  see  the  behavior  of  these 
wild  wolves  of  the  sea  before  the  boatswain, 


110  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

with  much  indignation,  lanced  them  both  to 
death. 

"  You  '11  try  to  eat  up  my  whale,  will  you, 
you  blasted  davy  devils  !  Take  that  —  and 
that  —  and  that ! "  and  with  every  "  that "  the 
keen  lance  searched  the  vitals  of  the  gnawing 
orcas. 

One  died  still  voraciously  tearing  at  the 
whale's  under  lip,  but  the  other  turned  at  the 
blow  of  the  lance  and  bit  at  what  had  stung 
it,  taking  the  bow  of  the  boat  in  its  jaws  and 
crushing  and  shaking  it  in  the  final  agony  as 
a  terrier  might  worry  a  cat.  The  great  teeth 
crunched  the  wood,  and  the  men,  with  cries 
of  terror,  were  shaken  out  of  the  boat,  but 
luckily  none  were  caught  in  the  grasp  of  the 
jaws.  The  lance-thrust  was  deadly,  and  in  a 
moment  the  orcas  lay,  belly  up,  beside  the 
dead  whale.  The  men  were  so  near  the  side 
of  the  ship  that  ropes  were  thrown  to  them 
and  they  clambered  aboard,  after  some  trouble 
to  save  the  gear  and  the  crushed  boat,  which 
was  towed  alongside  and  hoisted  on  deck. 

Thus  ended  the  first  adventure  with  a  school 
of  bowheads  in  the  Arctic.  Not  so  badly, 
though  the  whales  had  been  much  more  lively 
and  the  events  far  more  exciting  than  is  com 
mon  in  the  pursuit  of  this  gentlest  of  ceta- 


THE   LITTLE  MEN   OF  THE   DIOMEDES    111 

ceans.  A  week  of  calm,  warm  weather  fol 
lowed,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  three 
whales  were  cut  in,  the  blubber  tried  out,  and 
the  oil  stowed  away,  together  with  three  good 
heads  of  bone,  making  a  fine  beginning  of 
what  bade  fair  to  be  a  very  prosperous  sum 
mer  cruise. 


CHAPTER  V 

WHEN    THE    ICE    CAME    IN 

DURING  the  cutting  in  and  trying  out  of  the 
three  whales  the  wind  and  current  steadily 
carried  the  Bowhead  northward,  until  on  July 
fourth  they  again  sighted  the  pack  extending 
from  the  headland  of  Cape  Lisburne  west 
ward  indefinitely.  Along  between  the  ice 
and  the  land  was  a  space  of  open  water,  and 
into  this  the  Bowhead  passed,  working  her 
way  northeast  as  the  summer  season  opened 
and  the  ice  gradually  receded  from  the  shore. 
Now  and  then  a  whale  was  sighted  in  the 
opening  leads  of  the  retreating  pack,  and 
they  occasionally  captured  one,  though  these 
whales  in  the  ice  were  far  smaller  than  the 
ones  they  had  found  in  the  open  and  conse 
quently  much  less  valuable.  Moreover,  in  the 
ice-fields  they  were  difficult  to  get  at,  and  al 
most  invariably  escaped  by  plunging  beneath 
the  floes  and  coming  up  in  some  distant  lead 
whither  the  boat  could  not  follow  them.  In 
this  way  the  ship  reached  the  shallow  and 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  113 

dangerous  coast  off  Blossom  Shoals  and  be 
yond  to  Wainright  Inlet  with  the  waning  of 
the  brief  Arctic  summer  without  any  special 
adventures. 

Every  day  had  hardened  Harry  in  rugged 
strength  and  vigor,  and  he  and  Joe  were  as 
fine  specimens  of  young  whalemen  as  the  sea 
could  boast.  They  had  met  and  traded  with 
the  Eskimo  tribes  alongshore  and  exchanged 
the  reindeer  skins  for  fox  and  ermine  pelts, 
ivory,  and  whalebone,  thus  adding  to  the 
value  of  their  cruise.  Harry  and  Joe  had 
been  rivals  in  acquiring  the  Eskimo  dialect 
of  this  coast,  and  had  been  helped  greatly 
in  this  by  the  presence  aboard  of  a  young 
Eskimo  of  the  Point  Hope  tribe,  who  worked 
as  a  sailor,  with  the  understanding  that  when 
the  ship  should  go  out  he  would  be  paid  in 
"trade"  and  left  with  his  tribe.  Thus  both 
were  quite  fluent  and  could  understand  much 
that  the  Eskimos  said  among  themselves.  This 
was  of  great  assistance  to  them. 

As  far  north  as  Wainwright  Inlet  you  be 
gin  to  see  the  end  of  the  summer  often  by 
the  last  of  August.  Already  the  sun,  which 
in  June  simply  circled  the  sky  without  set 
ting,  has  begun  to  set  again,  and  there  is  a 
considerable  period  of  darkness  each  night. 


114  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

The  marvelous  growth  of  beautiful  flowers, 
which  stud  the  moss  and  grass  of  the  Arctic 
tundra  during  midsummer,  has  already  passed 
to  quick  maturity,  and  the  slopes  are  brown 
and  autumnal  by  the  middle  of  the  month. 
Gales  set  in  and  bring  snow  on  their  icy 
wings,  and  the  threat  of  winter  is  everywhere. 
The  whalers  take  this  warning  and  begin, 
about  the  middle  of  the  month,  to  work  south 
again,  unless  they  intend  to  winter  in  the  re 
gion.  Oftentimes  the  Arctic  pack  hangs  just 
offshore  here  and  with  westerly  winds  menaces 
the  ship  with  destruction,  but  more  often — • 
indeed,  it  is  counted  upon  by  the  whalers  — 
a  northeast  gale  comes  with  the  first  of  Sep 
tember  and  drives  the  pack  seaward,  while 
giving  them  a  fair  wind  for  the  strait.  It 
was  about  this  time  that  the  cruise,  thus  far 
prosperous,  began  to  meet  with  a  series  of 
mishaps  that  ended  in  disaster. 

It  was  the  last  day  of  August  that  the  west 
wind  began  to  blow,  and  Captain  Nickerson 
was  uneasy  directly.  The  Bowhead  was  just 
north  of  Icy  Cape,  in  comparatively  shoal 
water  and  with  much  floating  ice  in  the  sea. 
The  pack  ice  was  not  in  sight,  but  it  might 
loom  up  at  any  moment,  so  steam  was  got 
up  on  the  vessel  and  she  poked  her  way 


WHEN  THE   ICE  CAME  IN  115 

among  the  floating  cakes  to  windward,  work 
ing  out  as  fast  as  possible.  The  sky  was  still 
clear  and  it  did  not  promise  to  be  much  of  a 
blow,  but  things  work  together  for  evil  quickly 
in  the  Arctic,  and  it  behooves  a  navigator  to 
be  very  wary  there.  The  wisdom  of  the  im 
mediate  move  was  shown  in  this  case,  for  the 
ship  was  scarcely  well  off  the  shoals  and  round 
the  cape  into  the  deep  water  to  westward,  before 
a  long,  slender  point  of  solid  ice  was  noted 
to  the  windward.  It  might  be  the  main  pack 
or  not.  There  was  open  water  to  seaward 
and  clear  sea  between  the  ice  and  the  land, 
and  Captain  Nickerson  was  puzzled  which 
course  to  take.  If  it  was  but  a  detached  floe, 
as  it  well  might  be,  the  open  course  lay  to 
windward  of  it,  away  from  the  land.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  it  was  part  of  the  main 
pack,  the  proper  course  lay  between  it  and  the 
coast.  Captain  Nickerson  finally  decided  that 
the  seaward  course  was  the  wise  one,  and  soon 
a  widening  point  of  ice  separated  them  from 
the  shoreward  stretch  of  open  water.  An 
hour  later  they  were  among  drifting  floes,  but 
still  had  good  water  ahead  of  them  toward 
the  southwest.  The  breeze  was  gentle,  but 
the  sky  was  hazing  up  a  little,  and  the  sun 
shone  coldly. 


116  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

The  next  afternoon  at  eight  bells  (four 
o'clock),  as  the  watch  was  changed,  the  man 
on  lookout  called  down  to  the  deck. 

"  Something  adrift  on  the  ice  off  the  star 
board  bow,  sir." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Jones,  whose 
watch  on  deck  it  was. 

"  Can't  make  it  out,  sir,"  replied  the  look 
out  ;  "  it  might  be  a  seal,  then  again  it  might 
be  a  man." 

There  was  much  interest  at  once.  Several 
other  vessels  were  cruising  in  the  Arctic,  and 
they  had  occasionally  sighted  one  at  a  distance, 
though  there  had  been  chance  for  a  meeting 
and  a  "  gam  "  but  once.  They  knew  that 
the  other  ships  were  already  to  the  southward 
on  their  way  out.  Perhaps  this  was  a  man 
from  one  of  them,  gone  adrift  on  the  ice,  and 
having  but  one  chance  in  a  thousand  for  res- 

o 

cue.  Captain  Nickerson  was  not  called,  as  he 
had  just  gone  below  after  a  long  siege  on 
deck,  but  Mr.  Jones  took  the  responsibility 
of  changing  the  vessel's  course  slightly,  and 
they  approached  the  figure  on  the  ice.  It 
was  difficult  to  make  it  out.  All  hands  on 
deck  saw  it,  —  a  motionless  huddle  on  a  cake 
of  ice,  driving  before  the  wind  in  the  dreary 
polar  sea. 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  117 

By  and  by  the  ship  was  as  near  as  it  could 
well  get,  a  heavy  floe  crowding  in  between 
it  and  the  open  lead  in  which  the  cake  floated. 
Still  it  was  difficult  to  decide  just  what  the 
figure  was,  but  Mr.  Jones  finally  said  : 
"  Humph  !  Dead  seal,"  and  changed  the 
vessel's  course  again. 

Harry  and  Joe  looked  at  each  other.  They 
also  had  been  carefully  examining  the  object 
through  the  glass,  and  each  thought  it  might 
be  a  man,  fur-clad  and  lying  in  a  heap,  dead 
or  exhausted. 

"  I  don't  care,"  said  Joe  ;  "  I  'm  going  to 
speak  to  father,  if  he  is  tired  out.  We  don't 
want  to  take  chances  of  passing  any  one  that 
way." 

He  hastened  below  with  Harry  at  his  heels, 
both  with  hearts  swelling  with  indignation. 
They  knew  that  Mr.  Jones  was  probably  right 
in  his  guess,  but  the  thought  of  the  possibil 
ity  of  a  fellow  creature  floating  thus  into  the 
desolate  Arctic  winter  filled  them  with  pity 
and  a  great  desire  to  leave  nothing  to  chance. 

Captain  Nickerson  listened  to  their  story 
with  attention,  and  so  eager  and  excited  were 
they  that  he  finally  gave  them  permission  to 
have  Mr.  Jones  stop  the  ship  long  enough  for 
them  to  man  the  dingey  and  investigate. 


118  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Can  you  make  it  with  the  dingey  ?  "  he 
asked. 

"  Oh,  yes,  sir/'  replied  Joe.  "  There  's  a 
narrow  lead  or  two  that  will  take  us  part  way, 
and  the  dingey  is  so  light  that  we  can  haul 
her  across  in  the  other  places." 

The  dingey  had  been  the  special  care  of  the 
boys,  and  rarely  used  except  by  them.  They 
had  been  duck  shooting  in  her  during  the 
summer,  when  whales  were  not  in  sight,  and 
had  kept  the  ship's  larder  well  supplied  with 
the  great  ducks  which  swarm  in  that  region 
all  summer  long.  They  had  fitted  her  with 
a  light  sail  and  a  few  reserve  provisions,  — 
a  tin  or  two  of  meat  and  some  hard-tack,  in 
case  they  should  happen  to  be  away  over  meal 
time.  There  was  also  a  small  keg  of  fresh 
water,  and  in  the  locker  forward  a  one-burner 
oil  stove  with  tea,  sugar,  and  condensed  milk, 
by  way  of  refreshment.  The  boatswain  used 
to  laugh  at  this  "  life-boat,"  as  he  called  it, 
but  the  arrangement  had  often  been  useful, 
and  the  little  craft  was  very  handy  at  all  times. 

Mr.  Jones  did  not  look  particularly  happy 
when  he  heard  the  order  to  stop  and  lower 
the  dingey,  but  he  did  as  requested  and  the 
boat  was  soon  on  its  way.  The  boys  entered 
one  of  the  narrow  leads  in  the  floe  which 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  119 

barred  their  way,  traversed  it  to  its  end,  and 
hauled  their  boat  out.  It  was  some  way 
across  to  another  open  space  and  this  did 
not  take  them  far  in  the  right  direction,  but 
it  led  to  where  they  could  haul  to  another, 
and  so  little  by  little  they  won  their  way 
across.  As  they  came  to  the  open  water,  they 
found  to  their  chagrin  that  other  ice-fields 
had  crowded  in  between  them  and  their 
object,  and  they  were  obliged  to  make  a  wide 
and  winding  detour  to  approach  it.  Dis 
tance  is  always  far  greater  than  it  looks  to 
be  in  the  Arctic,  and  they  were  fully  an  hour 
in  getting  near  the  motionless  heap.  At  last 
the  dingey  grazed  the  floating  cake  and  they 
sprang  out  on  it,  dropped  the  ice  anchor  at 
the  end  of  the  two-fathomed  painter  into  a 
chink  in  the  ice,  and  hastened  toward  the 
motionless  object. 

As  they  reached  it  the  huddled  heap  of  fur 
moved,  wavered,  and  sat  up,  smiled  faintly 
from  a  face  sunken-cheeked  and  hollow-eyed, 
murmured  the  Eskimo  word  "  Nagouruk," 
then  wavered  back  into  a  motionless  heap 
once  more  ;  and  as  it  did  so  a  whirl  of  great 
flakes  came  pelting  down  on  the  little  group 
on  the  cake  of  ice,  and  the  world  was  blotted 
out  in  snow. 


120  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

All  eyes  on  board  the  ship  had  been  fas 
tened  on  the  two  in  the  dingey,  and  the  squall 
had  taken  them  as  much  by  surprise  as  it 
did  the  boys.  It  had  come  up  with  a  sudden 
veering  of  the  wind  to  the  southward,  and 
had  taken  them  from  behind.  Before  they 
knew  it  all  things  were  smothered  in  the 
whirl  of  snow,  and,  though  he  thought  it 
probably  only  a  passing  squall,  Mr.  Jones  was 
very  uneasy  about  it,  and  when  after  a  half 
hour  had  passed  with  no  signs  of  letting  up, 
he  called  Captain  Nickerson.  As  the  wind 
and  snow  increased,  all  hands  became  very 
anxious,  and  everything  possible  was  done  to 
give  the  boys  knowledge  of  the  ship's  where 
abouts.  The  whistle  was  blown  frequently 
and  shots  were  fired  in  volleys  every  few  min 
utes,  but  there  was  still  no  sign  of  them. 

It  soon  became  evident  that  a  severe  blow 
was  threatening  and,  though  terribly  anxious 
about  the  boys,  Captain  Nickerson  realized 
that  he  must  give  his  attention  to  the  safety 
of  the  ship.  The  south  wind  was  bringing 
the  shoreward  floe  out  upon  her  rapidly.  It 
had  already  closed  the  lead  just  ahead  of  them, 
and  if  they  would  not  be  crushed  they  must 
retreat.  The  ship  was  therefore  put  about 
and  slowly  worked  its  way  eastward  again, 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  121 

keeping  just  out  of  the  jaws  of  destruction, 
in  the  vain  hope  that  the  dingey  would  reap 
pear.  Day  wore  on  and  darkness  came  with 
no  sign  of  the  missing  boat,  and  during  the 
next  day  the  best  they  could  do  was  to  work 
back  to  Icy  Cape,  where  the  floes  grounded 
on  the  shoals  and  they  found  safe  refuge, 
partly  behind  them  and  partly  behind  the  cape. 
The  wind  had  swung  to  the  westward  again 
during  the  night  and  the  morning  brought 
no  snow,  but  the  air  was  full  of  a  black  mist 
and  bitter  cold.  There  was  but  faint  hope 
that  they  would  see  the  boys  again  unless  the 
weather  soon  moderated,  and  Captain  Nick- 
erson  was  overcome  with  grief  and  self-accu 
sation.  Nor  was  the  taciturn  Mr.  Jones  much 
better  off.  Each  felt  that  he  had  been  care 
less  to  let  them  go  as  they  had,  yet  the  squall 
was  so  sudden  and  unforeseen  that  they  could 
hardly  be  blamed. 

For  days  the  wind  hung  to  the  westward, 
veering  to  the  northwest,  and  at  the  end  of 
the  third  the  main  pack  came  in  in  earnest, 
pushing  the  shore  floes  on  the  ship  till  she 
was  forced  into  shallow  water  and  grounded. 
It  became  evident  that  she  would  hardly  be 
got  off  again  that  fall,  and  that  immediate 
measures  must  be  taken  for  the  safety  of  the 


122  THE   YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

crew.  Leaving  Mr.  Jones  in  charge,  Captain 
Nickerson  took  a  strong  crew  of  his  best  men 
and  set  off  down  the  coast,  hoping  to  find  one 
of  the  other  ships  of  the  little  Arctic  fleet. 
The  journey  was  hard  and  dangerous.  Now 
they  found  a  space  of  open  water,  again  they 
had  to  drag  the  boat  over  the  ice  for  a  long 
distance,  camping  for  the  night  under  the 
overturned  boat,  and  looking  anxiously  for 
traces  of  the  boys,  but  finding  none. 

At  the  end  of  the  fifth  day  the  wind  and 
cold  diminished,  and  they  joyfully  sighted  the 
Belvidere  in  open  water  near  the  shore,  with 
what  seemed  a  fair  chance  to  work  out.  They 
were  taken  aboard,  and  the  captain  of  the 
Belvidere  readily  agreed  to  wait  until  the  re 
mainder  of  the  crew  of  the  Bowhead  could 
reach  him.  For  his  own  safety  this  was  as 
much  as  he  could  do.  He  could  not  agree  to 
stay  in  and  risk  his  own  vessel  and  crew  for 
the  chance  of  getting  the  Bowhead  out  of 
her  difficulty.  It  was  decided  that  she  must 
be  abandoned,  and  Captain  Nickerson,  with 
one  man,  started  back  on  foot  to  get  the 
crew.  The  journey  was  made  successfully, 
and  within  a  day  after  his  return  the  balance 
of  the  crew  in  four  boats,  with  merely  what 
provisions  they  needed  for  the  trip,  abandoned 


WHEN   THE  ICE   CAME  IN     •          123 

ship  and  contents,  and,  after  a  hard  struggle, 
reached  the  Belvidere. 

It  was  time.  Already  she  was  hard  pressed 
by  the  shoreward-moving  ice,  and  the  captain 
was  taking  great  risks  in  remaining.  She 
pushed  slowly  down  the  coast,  forcing  her 
way  through  closing  floes  and  running  a  hun 
dred  hazards  successfully,  till  at  last  they 
rounded  Lisburne  and  were  in  comparatively 
clear  water.  Captain  Nickerson  had  not  made 
any  further  efforts  to  discover  the  lost  boys. 
He  knew  that  these  would  be  useless.  De 
pending  on  their  own  exertions,  they  had  a 
slender  chance  for  escape  to  some  other  ves 
sel,  if  any  remained,  or  they  might  reach 
shore  and  winter  with  the  natives.  In  either 
case  he  felt  that  the  chances  were  slight,  and 
he  aged  perceptibly  in  the  cruise  back  to  the 
States.  The  loss  of  his  only  son  and  his  pro 
tege'  weighed  heavily  upon  him  with  the  loss 
of  his  vessel  and  valuable  cargo.  The  taci 
turn  Mr.  Jones  became  more  silent  than  ever, 
and  hardly  spoke  the  whole  voyage  through. 
It  was  a  sad  home-coming  for  the  ship's  com 
pany. 

As  for  the  boys,  their  plight  was  bad 
enough,  but  at  first,  at  least,  their  anxiety 
was  only  for  themselves. 


124  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Indeed,  in  the  very  beginning,  it  was  only 
for  their  new  found  friend.  "  He  's  dying," 
cried  Harry,  when  the  Eskimo  collapsed  at 
their  feet ;  "  what  shall  we  do  ?  " 

"  Give  him  something  hot,"  cried  the  prac 
tical  Joe.  "  If  we  only  had  some  brandy  ! 
But  we  have  n't.  I  '11  tell  you  —  you  chafe 
his  hands  and  I  '11  make  some  hot  tea." 

So  Harry  fell  to  chafing  the  cold,  skeleton- 
like  hands,  while  Joe  eagerly  lighted  the  little 
oil  lamp  and  soon  had  a  pot  of  hot  tea  made, 
sheltered  from  the  wind  in  the  forward  locker 
of  the  dingey.  He  poured  this  between  the 
clenched  teeth  of  the  unconscious  man,  who 
choked  a  bit  as  it  went  down  and  opened  his 
eyes. 

"  There ! "  said  Joe ;  "  I  thought  that  would 
fetch  him.  It 's  strong  enough  to  raise  the 
dead  and  —  well,  I  guess  it 's  pretty  hot,  too. 
Lucky  we  stocked  the  dingey  this  way,  ain't 
it  ?  Whew  !  how  it  does  snow.  We  '11  have 
to  wait  till  it  quits  before  we  think  of  getting 
back  to  the  ship  again.  It 's  kind  of  risky 
to  get  too  far  away  from  your  ship  when  the 
ice  is  coming  in.  Guess  we  '11  make  it  all 
right,  though." 

For  the  first  time  Harry  looked  around  him 
and  thought  of  his  surroundings.  The  snow 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  125 

was  pelting  in  on  them  in  great  flakes,  and 
he  could  hardly  see  across  the  ice  cake  they 
were  on.  He  did  not  realize  that  the  wind 
had  changed,  but  he  noticed  that  it  blew 

O         7 

strongly,  and  he  felt  singularly  lonely  and 
distant  from  shelter  and  aid.  Something  of 
the  eerie  wildness  of  the  Arctic  came  over 
him,  as  it  had  that  night  in  the  storm  in 
Bering  Sea,  and  he  had  a  sense  of  desolation 
that  was  beyond  words.  The  only  link  be 
tween  him  and  life  seemed  to  be  the  dingey, 
and  even  then  an  ice  cake  crushed  against  it 
with  an  alarming  crash.  He  rushed  to  it  and, 
hauling  with  all  his  strength,  got  it  out  on 
the  ice.  The  planking  was  cracked,  and  it 
had  barely  escaped  utter  ruin. 

"  Whew  !  "  exclaimed  Joe  ;  "  they  're  after 
us,  are  n't  they  !  We  '11  have  to  mend  that  a 
bit  before  we  can  start  out.  But  that  will 
be  easy.  Once  we  get  our  friend  here  fixed 
up  so  he  can  travel,  we  '11  tend  to  all  those 
things."  He  crumbed  a  little  hard  bread  into 
the  balance  of  the  tea,  making  a  sort  of  soup 
which  the  Eskimo  took  eagerly.  After  a  time 
he  spoke  briefly  in  his  own  language. 

"  No  catch  seal,"  he  said  ;  "  kayak  gone. 
Nine  sleeps  and  no  eat." 

"  Do  you  hear  that  ?  "  said  Joe  to  Harry  ; 


126  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

"  No  wonder  he  's  used  up.  Guess  I  '11  give 
him  some  more  to  eat." 

The  Eskimo  answered  this  in  English  as  he 
got  up,  rather  waveringly.  "  No/'  he  said ; 
"  bimeby  want." 

Born  of  generations  inured  to  famine,  no 
one  recovers  from  it  more  quickly  than  the 
Eskimo,  and  within  half  an  hour  he  was  able 
to  walk  about  and  take  a  hand,  in  a  feeble 
way,  in  patching  up  the  injured  dingey.  They 
found  that  he  was  a  Point  Hope  man  by  birth, 
and  had  learned  a  little  English  at  the  mission 
there.  He  had  come  north  with  some  of  his 
tribe  a  summer  or  two  before,  and  finding  a 
place  to  his  liking  near  Point  Lay,  had  settled 
there  with  them.  He  had  been  out  after  seal 
among  the  floes  and  lost  his  kayak,  and  had 
drifted  on  the  cake  for  nine  days.  A  day  or 
so  before,  he  had  given  himself  up  for  lost, 
and  calmly  covered  his  head  with  his  skin 
coat,  waiting  for  death,  as  an  Eskimo  will. 
He  had  taken  the  boys  at  first  for  the  ghosts 
of  the  ice  world,  come  for  him,  and  had  gone 
to  sleep  at  sight  of  them.  Now  he  knew  them 
to  be  men,  his  friends,  and  some  day  he  would 
save  their  lives  as  they  had  his. 

All  this  he  explained,  bit  by  bit,  partly  in 
brief  English,  partly  in  Eskimo  which  they 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  127 

understood,  as  the  boat  was  being  patched 
with  a  bit  of  canvas  tacked  over  the  break  in 
the  planking.  They  had  no  tacks,  but  Harry 
had  a  many-bladed  knife  with  an  awl  in  it, 
and  they  made  holes  with  this  and  used  pegs 
whittled  from  a  thwart.  These  they  made  a 
trifle  long  for  the  awl-holes,  and  hammered 
the  protruding  ends  to  a  fuzzy  head.  It  was 
not  a  good  job,  but  it  would  do. 

Harry  was  eager  to  start  back  for  the  ship 
at  once,  but  Joe,  wiser  in  the  ways  of  the 
Arctic,  wanted  to  wait.  He  knew  that  in 
that  driving  snow  it  would  be  almost  impossi 
ble  to  reach  her  unless  constantly  guided  by 
sound.  Without  that  they  might  row  within 
a  dozen  yards  of  her  and  not  see  her.  More 
than  one  whaleman  has  lost  his  ship  while 
wintering  in  the  Arctic,  and  died  in  the  storm 
within  a  few  rods  of  her,  never  knowing  that 
he  was  so  near  safety.  So  Joe,  backed  by 
the  Eskimo,  judged  that  they  would  better 
wait  until  they  were  sure  in  what  direction  to 
go.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  ship,  floe-bound 
near  the  shore,  had  drifted  but  slowly  in 
the  southerly  wind,  while  the  cake  on  which 
they  were  had  gone  northward  quite  rapidly. 
Hence  when  the  shots  and  whistle  sounded 
they  heard  them  only  faintly,  and  could  not 


128  THE   YOUNG  ICE    WHALERS 

tell,  in  the  drive  of  the  storm,  from  what 
direction  they  came. 

Thus  time  slipped  by  and  they  still  clung 
to  their  floating  cake,  a  pitiful  little  ice  world 
in  a  gray  universe  of  flying  snow.  They  were 
warmly  dressed,  but  the  inaction  in  the  chill 
wind  soon  set  the  white  men  to  shivering.  The 
Eskimo,  on  the  contrary,  seemed  comfortable 
in  his  furs,  and  regained  strength  every  mo 
ment.  He  noted  how  cold  they  were,  and, 
motioning  them  to  his  assistance,  they  turned 
the  boat  over,  keel  to  the  wind,  spread  the 
sail  beneath  it,  and  drew  part  of  it  up  so  as 
to  close  the  opening.  With  the  movable 
thwarts  they  blocked  the  wider  apertures, 
and  then,  still  at  the  bidding  of  the  Eskimo, 
heaped  the  fast  gathering  snow  about  it. 
This  gave  them  a  narrow  igloo,  where  they 
huddled  for  warmth.  From  now  on  the  dusky 
brother  they  had  rescued  proceeded  to  rescue 
them,  and  they  soon  learned  to  trust  his  judg 
ment  implicitly. 

As  time  passed  more  snow  accumulated  and 
was  banked  about,  until  their  cave  was  well 
fortified  and  quite  comfortable. 

Gradually  dusk  came  on,  but  still  the  snow 
fell  as  thick  as  ever,  and  there  was  no  alter 
native  but  to  remain  where  they  were.  Mat- 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  129 

ters  did  not  look  very  cheerful,  and  Harry,  for 
one,  heartily  wished  he  had  never  seen  the 
Arctic,  or,  for  that  matter,  left  the  pleasant 
confines  of  Quincy  Point.  However,  a  healthy 
boy  grows  hungry  at  supper  time,  wherever 
he  is,  and  he  pulled  one  of  the  three  or  four 
tins  of  canned  meat  out  of  the  locker,  to 
gether  with  about  half  the  hard-tack. 

"  Let 's  have  some  supper,"  he  said ;  "  I  Jm 
hungry." 

They  divided  the  meat,  and  each  ate  sev 
eral  squares  of  hard-tack.  Joe  made  shift 
to  boil  some  water  with  the  little  oil  stove, 
and  they  made  tea.  The  glow  of  the  flame 
lighted  their  shelter  with  cheer  and  helped  to 
warm  it.  The  drifting  snow  wrapped  it  closer, 
and,  in  spite  of  the  keen  nip  of  the  frost  and 
the  icy  gale  without,  they  had  a  sense  of 
warmth  and  comfort.  Joe,  however,  put  out 
the  flame  as  soon  as  the  tea  was  done. 

"  We  may  need  that  oil  badly  before  we 
get  back,"  he  said,  "  and  it  won't  do  to  waste 
it.  No,  we  'd  best  sleep  if  we  can  till  day 
light.  The  storm  may  break  by  that  time, 
and  we  can  see  better  what  to  do.  This  ice 
cake  is  big  enough  to  hold  us  safe  till  the 
blow  is  over,  and  that  is  the  best  we  can  do 
at  present." 


130  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

They  cuddled  together  for  warmth,  and  in 
spite  of  the  obviously  great  danger  of  their 
situation,  two  at  least,  Joe  and  the  Eskimo, 
soon  slept  soundly.  Harry  did  not  sleep  so 
readily.  He  was  fairly  warm  and  comfort 
able  lying  between  his  two  friends  in  the  nar 
row  cubby-hole,  now  wrapped  deep  in  the 
sheltering  snow,  but  he  could  hear  the  howl 
of  the  storm  without,  and  a  sense  of  the  weird 
and  supernatural  was  strong  upon  him.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  wild  powers  of  the  unknown 
ice  world  laughed  and  gibbered  in  the  gale. 
He  thought  he  heard  low  wails,  hideous  laugh 
ter,  and  a  sort  of  insane  babbling  that  sounded 
now  far,  now  near  at  hand,  and  he  did  not 
blame  the  Eskimos  for  thinking  the  world  of 
unknown  ice  and  desolation  to  the  north  to 
be  peopled  by  strange  spirits.  Once  it  seemed 
as  if  the  Innuit  at  his  side  was  awake  and 
listening  too,  and  he  poked  him  gently  and 
asked,  "  What 's  that  ?  "  as  a  sound  of  ghostly 
footsteps  and  something  like  deep  breathing 
came  to  him  in  a  lull  of  the  gale. 

The  other  lifted  his  head  and  was  silent. 
"  Hush,"  he  replied,  after  a  moment.  "  Nu- 
natak  mute  (ghost  people)  come.  Perhaps  no 
hear,  no  see,  bimeby  go  away." 

He  lay  down  again  and  was  soon  asleep, 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  131 

and  at  last  tired  nature  soothed  Harry  to 
slumber,  and  he  slipped  away  into  the  world 
of  dreams  where  was  no  ice  or  gale,  no 
strange  ghosts  of  the  frigid  night,  but  the 
pleasant  warmth  of  his  own  fireside  at  home, 
his  father  and  mother  sitting  by  the  evening 
lamp,  and  he  himself  propped  among  cush 
ions,  slipping  gently  into  dreamland  in  the 
comfort  of  his  own  home. 

Hours  afterward  he  was  wakened  by  a  fa 
miliar  scratching  sound.  It  was  pitch  dark, 
and  he  was  warm  and  comfortable  though  the 
air  was  oppressive.  By  and  by  there  was  a 
spurt  of  flame,  and  he  saw  that  Joe  was  light 
ing  a  match.  He  touched  it  to  the  wick  of 
the  oil  stove,  put  the  teapot  on,  then  looked 
at  his  watch. 

"  It  ought  to  be  light  by  this  time,"  he 
said.  "It's  five  o'clock.  What  do  you 
suppose  is  the  matter?"  The  Innuit  was 
awake  at  this,  and  sat  up  also  in  his  cramped 
quarters. 

"  Plenty  snow,"  he  said.  "  Eat  first,  bimeby 
look  out.  Much  cold." 

They  made  a  hasty  breakfast  from  the  scanty 
stock  of  food,  and  the  Innuit  pushed  his  arm 
through  the  drift  that  had  snowed  them  com 
pletely  under,  safe  and  warm  from  the  tern- 


132  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

pest.  Light  came  in  through  the  hole  which 
his  arm  had  made,  and  a  whiff  of  fresh  but 
very  keen  air.  He  enlarged  the  hole  care 
fully,  making  it  a  sort  of  burrow  out  of  which 
each  crawled.  The  snow  had  ceased,  but  the 
wind  still  blew  hard,  and  the  air  was  full  of 
a  black  fog,  which  gave  no  sight  of  the  sun. 
It  was  bitter  cold,  and  the  short  distance  which 
they  could  see  about  them  showed  only  a  rug 
ged  mass  of  snow-covered  ice.  During  the 
night  their  floating  cake  had  joined  with 
larger  ones,  how  large  they  could  not  tell,  and 
they  were  now  on  what  seemed  an  ice-field. 

"  Shall  we  try  to  make  the  ship  ?  "  asked 
Harry  dubiously,  his  teeth  chattering  in  the 
keen  air.  Joe  shook  his  head. 

"  I  'm  afraid  we  're  in  a  bad  scrape,"  he 
said.  "  We  can't  be  sure  of  the  direction, 
and  even  if  we  could,  we  might  pass  within 
a  short  distance  of  the  ship  and  not  see  her. 
Seems  to  me  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to 
wait  for  the  weather  to  clear  up.  Then  we 
can  tell  what  we  are  doing." 

The  Eskimo  nodded  his  head  in  approval 
of  this.  "  Too  much  cold,"  he  said.  "  Too 
much  no  see.  Wait  in  igloo  long  time,  maybe 
five,  six  sleeps.  Then  sun  come." 

"  If  I  only  had  a  compass,  so  that  we  could 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  133 

get  the  general  direction,  I  'd  chance  it,"  said 
Joe ;  "  but  there  is  no  telling  how  the  wind 
may  have  changed,  and  we  might  be  travel 
ing  right  out  to  sea.  It's  better  to  wait 
where  we  are  safe  till  we  can  be  sure.  They  '11 
be  anxious  on  the  ship,  but  what  can  we  do  ? 
No,  the  Eskimo  is  right.  We  've  got  to  stay 
here  till  we  can  see  the  sun,  at  least." 

The  bite  of  the  wind  warned  them  to  get 
within  their  shelter  again,  and  they  did  so. 
The  Eskimo,  however,  continued  to  work  on 
the  snow  entrance  to  their  cave  beneath  the 
drift,  and  soon  had  it  made  into  a  veritable  tun 
nel,  through  which  they  could  crawl,  but  which 
was  long  enough  to  keep  out  the  worst  of  the 
cold.  Then  he  enlarged  their  igloo  by  push 
ing  out  the  sail,  compacting  the  snow  behind 
it,  till  they  had  quite  a  little  room  in  which 
to  turn  round,  though  they  could  barely  sit 
upright  there.  He  almost  blocked  the  far 
end  of  his  entrance  tunnel  with  snow,  and 
closed  the  nearer  end  with  the  boat's  thwarts. 
Thus  the  wind  and  cold  were  shut  out,  and 
they  were  surprisingly  comfortable,  consider 
ing  that  they  had  no  fire.  Their  eyes  be 
came  accustomed  to  the  semi-darkness,  and 
they  felt  themselves  quite  at  home.  It  was  a 
long  day,  though  they  whiled  away  the  time 


134  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

talking  with  the  Eskimo,  who  was  quite  re 
covered  from  his  nine  days  of  starvation. 

At  nightfall  there  was  no  change  in  the 
weather,  and  they  resigned  themselves  to  a 
long  siege.  Neither  was  there  any  change 
the  next  day,  nor  the  next.  Occasionally 
they  went  out  and  plunged  through  the  snow 
about  their  igloo  for  exercise,  but  the  Eskimo 
warned  them  not  to  go  but  a  few  steps  away 
from  it,  for  to  be  lost  in  the  cold  and  black 
frost-fog  was  to  meet  certain  death  from  ex 
posure.  Now  and  then  it  snowed  again,  but 
they  did  not  care  for  this,  as  it  drifted  higher 
about  their  shelter  and  made  it  warmer.  On 
the  third  day  a  serious  matter  was  forced  upon 
their  attention.  At  breakfast,  that  morning, 
Joe  divided  the  last  of  the  meat  and  hard 
tack.  Only  a  little  tea  stood  between  them 
and  starvation. 

The  night  of  the  fourth  day  they  were 
much  disturbed  by  crushing  and  grinding 
noises,  and  got  little  sleep.  Sometimes  the 
ice  beneath  them  seemed  to  jar  as  if  hit  by 
a  tremendous  blow.  The  Eskimo  hailed  this 
with  delight. 

"  Nagouruk,"  he  said.  "  Ice  talk.  Bimeby 
get  seal." 

At  the  first  light  he  was  out, -taking  his 


WHEN  THE   ICE  CAME   IN  135 

spear  with  him,  hut  he  returned  at  nightfall, 
thoroughly  chilled  and  empty-handed.  Mat 
ters  looked  duhious.  They  drank  tea  and 
licked  the  inside  of  the  can  that  had  held  the 
condensed  milk.  It  was  a  poor  substitute  for 
a  meal.  They  learned  that  the  Eskimo  had 
hunted  long  for  an  open  lead,  and  had  risked 
his  life  by  venturing  far  from  their  shelter, 
but  had  found  only  a  small  crack,  which  he 
had  watched  all  day  without  success.  The 
next  morning,  however,  Joe,  who  was  first 
out,  gave  a  great  shout  of  delight.  The 
gale  had  abated,  and  there  was  a  faint  glow 
through  the  black  fog  which  showed  the  di 
rection  of  the  sun.  He  wished  to  start  south 
east  at  once,  for  that  must  be  the  direction  in 
which  they  should  go,  but  the  Eskimo  wished 
to  wait. 

"Get  seal,"  he  said.  "Much  eat.  Bimeby 
go ; "  and  though  Joe  chafed  at  the  delay,  the 
weakness  of  hunger  made  him  think  it  wise 
to  defer  to  the  man  of  the  ice.  The  Eskimo 
went  off  with  his  spear,  found  an  opening 
within  sight  of  the  igrloo,  and  stood  there 

O  O  ' 

motionless  for  literal  hours,  his  spear  poised, 
himself  a  statue  frozen  upon  the  frozen  scene. 
Suddenly  the  poised  spear  shot  downward, 
and  with  a  shout  of  triumph  he  hauled  a  seal 


136  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

out  upon  the  ice,  tossed  him  upon  his  shoul 
der,  and  came  running  to  the  igloo  with  him. 

It  took  him  but  a  moment  to  strip  off  the 
already  freezing  hide,  and  slice  off  big  strips 
of  blubber  and  meat  from  the  carcass.  Pass 
ing  these  to  the  boys  he  proceeded  to  eat 
others  immediately.  Joe  and  Harry  were 
hungry  enough  to  follow  his  example,  but 
they  nevertheless  lighted  the  oil  stove  and 
partly  broiled  their  steaks  before  eating.  It 
must  be  confessed,  however,  that  they  were 
cooked  rare.  When  they  had  satisfied  their 
hunger  the  Eskimo  carefully  rolled  up  the  re 
mainder  of  the  meat  and  blubber  in  the  hide, 
and  it  soon  froze  solid,  making  a  compact 
bundle. 

The  cold  abated  with  the  wind,  and  as  the 
sun  struggled  through  more  and  more,  they 
made  an  immediate  start.  They  dug  the 
dingey  out  of  the  snow  shelter  that  had 
saved  their  lives,  packed  their  belongings  care 
fully  in  it,  and,  with  the  Eskimo  tugging  at 
the  painter,  and  Joe  and  Harry  lifting  and 
sliding  it  over  the  snow  and  rough  ice,  headed 
southeast  as  nearly  as  they  could  tell  by  the 
sun. 

It  was  hard  work,  but  the  boat  was  still 
their  only  salvation,  and  they  stuck  to  it.  The 


ROUGH  ARCTIC  CLIFFS 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  137 

good  meal  of  seal  meat  had  put  renewed  life 
into  them,  and,  in  the  clear  Arctic  air,  headed 
toward  safety  once  more,  they  felt  almost  jo 
vial.  The  brown  man  of  the  ice  seemed  to 
have  completely  recovered  his  strength,  and 
tugged  manfully,  working  like  a  beaver,  and 
leading  the  way  with  a  discretion  born  of 
generations  of  men  trained  to  the  work. 

By  mid-afternoon  it  had  grown  quite  clear, 
and  they  paused  for  a  rest,  making  another 
meal  of  seal  meat,  very  slightly  cooked  this 
time,  for  the  oil  in  the  stove  gave  out  as  they 
were  cooking.  When  they  started  on,  the 
Eskimo  swung  sharply  to  the  south  with  a 
joyful  shout. 

"Emik!  Emik ! "  (Water!  Water!)  he 
cried ;  and  soon  they  saw  an  open  lead  in  a 
southerly  direction.  It  was  not  long  before 
they  had  the  boat  in  this,  and  with  a  sigh  of 
relief  Harry  settled  to  the  oars,  while  Joe  took 
the  tiller,  and  the  Eskimo  ensconced  himself 
in  the  bow,  spear  in  hand,  in  the  hope  of  see 
ing  another  seal.  An  hour  or  two  later  the 
clouds  to  the  eastward  settled  away,  and  they 
saw  at  no  great  distance  the  glimmer  of  snow- 
clad  peaks  in  the  setting  sun.  Land  was  in 
sight,  and  it  seemed  as  if  their  troubles  were 
soon  to  be  over.  The  open  water  between 


138  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  pack  and  the  shore  could  not  be  far  ahead 
of  them,  and  they  found  a  place  where  a  haul 
over  a  space  of  ice  let  them  into  another  lead 
that  took  them  in  the  right  direction.  Just 
before  sunset  a  warning  word  from  the  Es 
kimo  bade  Harry  cease  his  rowing,  and  the 
boat  glided  gently  along  through  the  water, 
while  the  Eskimo  stood  erect  with  poised 
spear. 

Again  there  was  the  sudden  thrust  and  the 
shout  of  triumph,  and  another  seal  was  added 
to  their  larder.  This  was  a  larger  one,  and 
they  had  at  least  no  fear  of  the  starvation 
which  had  threatened  them  at  sunrise.  Still 
there  was  no  sign  of  the  ship,  and  even  now 
a  return  of  the  gale,  with  snow,  might  easily 
prove  disastrous.  Therefore,  changing  places 
at  the  oars,  they  toiled  doggedly  on,  making 
another  short  haul  over  the  ice,  and  finding 
the  open  water  just  at  twilight.  They  found 
it  full  of  floating  cakes,  and  as  they  neared 
the  shore  there  was  much  "  mush  ice  "  newly 
formed  in  the  open,  which  made  their  pas 
sage  difficult.  It  was  well  into  the  night 
when  they  finally  hauled  the  boat  out  on  the 
snow-clad  land  with  a  great  sigh  of  weariness 
and  relief.  It  was  like  coming  to  a  new  and 
strange  world,  however.  The  brown  tundra 


WHEN  THE  ICE  CAME  IN  139 

was  now  drifted  with  snow,  and  the  country 
round  about  was  in  the  grip  of  the  beginning 
of  the  long  Arctic  winter.  There  are  years 
in  which  this  is  delayed  until  late  in  Septem 
ber,  but  in  others  it  comes  by  the  very  first, 
and  happy  are  those  ships  which  escape  to  the 
wanner  waters  of  the  south  before  it  happens. 
They  had  not  got  sight  of  the  ship,  but  they 
hoped  to  on  the  morrow.  At  least  they  were 
safe  from  the  terrible  drifting  Arctic  pack, 
and  with  thankfulness  for  the  watchful  care 
of  Providence  they  once  more  overturned  the 
dingey,  rigged  the  sail  over  its  open  side, 
packed  snow  from  a  drift  about  it,  and  crawled 
into  the  improvised  igloo  for  the  heavy  dream 
less  sleep  that  follows  severe  and  long-con 
tinued  toil. 


CHAPTER  VI 

WINTER   LIFE   AND    INNUIT   FRIENDS 

THAT  night  as  they  lay  sheltered  from  cold 
and  from  sound,  snug  in  their  snow  igloo,  the 
four  boats  of  the  Bowhead  battled  past  them 
on  their  way  down  the  coast,  leaving  no  trace 
behind  in  the  shifting  ice  and  mush  of  the 
narrowing  waterway  ;  the  difference  of  a  few 
hours  in  time,  of  a  few  furlongs  in  distance, 
was  so  little,  yet  it  meant  so  much  !  With 
the  passing  of  those  four  boats  civilization 
shut  her  door  upon  the  two  boys,  and  was  to 
open  it  no  more  for  a  year  and  a  half. 

Yet  they  knew  nothing  of  this,  and  slept 
serene  in  the  hope  of  soon  rejoining  their 
comrades.  They  woke  to  find  the  sun  already 
up,  and  the  Eskimo  gone.  His  tracks  lay 
through  the  snow  inland.  While  they  won 
dered  if  he  had  abandoned  them  he  reappeared, 
bearing  a  scant  handful  of  willow  brush  which 
he  had  dug  out  of  the  snow  in  the  valley  be 
yond.  With  this  they  managed  to  roast  some 
strips  of  seal  meat  and  make  a  satisfactory 


WINTER   LIFE   AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    141 

breakfast.  The  wind  had  ceased,  the  air  was 
keen  but  bracing,  and  they  did  not  mind  the 
cold,  which,  after  all,  was  not  great.  The 
first  warning  of  the  terrible  winter  was  on 
them,  but  it  was  not  yet  severe.  Their  young 
blood  leaped  in  the  keen  air,  and  they  felt 
a  relief  from  danger  that  made  them  fairly 
frolicsome.  The  ship  could  not  be  far  away, 
they  were  sure,  and  they  would  find  it  and  all 
would  be  well. 

"  There  is  one  comfort  about  this  way  of 
living,"  said  Harry  philosophically ;  "  you 
don't  have  any  dishes  to  clean  up." 

"  No,"  replied  Joe ;  "  nor  much  to  put  in 
them,  either." 

Then  both  boys  noted  the  Eskimo's  manner. 
He  stood  looking  toward  the  north  with  a 
strange  intensity.  Over  in  that  direction  the 
snowy  fields  of  the  pack  ice  stretched  away  to 
the  limitless  haze  of  the  horizon.  In  the  dis 
tance  these  ice-fields  seemed  to  quiver  as  the 
air  quivers  in  summer  when  the  heat  is  intense. 
They  trembled  and  wavered,  and  changed 
from  ice-fields  to  open  sea  that  shone  fail- 
under  the  morning  sun.  This  sea  was  calm 
and  free  from  ice,  and  seemed  to  move  east 
ward,  melting  the  ice  and  snow  before  it  as  it 
went.  They  turned  to  watch  this  eastward 


142  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

movement,  and  after  a  little  a  headland  ap 
peared  in  it,  and  both  boys  gave  a  cry  of 
delight. 

"The  ship!  the  ship!"  they  cried,  and 
danced  and  swung  their  hats  and  hurrahed. 
There  she  was  at  anchor  by  the  headland, 
safe  and  sound  as  they  had  left  her,  and  their 
hearts  glowed  within  them  at  the  thought  of 
home  coming. 

"  There  she  is ! "  cried  Joe  exultantly,  "  right 
north  by  Icy  Cape  !  I  remember  the  headland 
there.  Good  Lord  !  What 's  she  doing  ?  " 

The  Bowhead  moved  out  from  her  anchor 
age  on  this  quivering  open  sea  with  never  a 
sail  set,  and  no  smoke  from  her  engines,  and 
lifting  up  and  up  seemed  to  climb  the  horizon 
to  the  northeast  and  disappear,  a  speck  in  the 
high  heavens  ;  and  as  she  did  so  the  shimmer 
ing  waters  vanished,  leaving  only  the  rough, 
snow-clad  ice-fields,  bleak  and  impenetrable. 

Joe  and  Harry  looked  at  each  other.  It 
was  mirage,  they  knew  that,  yet  there  had 
been  the  headland,  and  the  ship,  her  every 
spar  and  rope  familiar  to  them.  It  was  magic ; 
that  was  what  the  Eskimo  said,  but  he  was 
quite  confident  that  it  was  bad  magic,  and  that 
this  was  to  show  them  that  ship  and  crew  were 
lost,  —  had  sailed  far  away  to  the  unknown, 


WINTER  LIFE   AND  INNUIT  FRIENDS    143 

never  to  return.  He  would  go  to  Icy  Cape 
with  them  if  they  wished,  but  they  would 
find  only  winter  ghosts  there. 

Nevertheless  it  was  their  only  clue,  and  they 
decided  to  go.  With  their  friends  camped 
only  a  few  short  miles  to  the  southwest,  they 
headed  in  the  opposite  direction  and  began 
struggling  through  the  mush  ice,  across  floes, 
making  a  toilsome  but  sure  progress  to  the 
northeast.  At  noon  they  camped  on  a  floe, 
ate  seal  meat,  and,  after  a  brief  rest,  toiled 
on.  At  night  they  camped  as  before.  Thus 
for  two  days  they  steadily  worked  up  the 
coast.  At  nightfall  of  the  second  the  wind 
came  in  again  from  the  west,  with  squalls 
of  snow  and  a  recurrence  of  severe  cold,  but 
the  next  day  they  went  on  still,  and  by  noon 
were  rounding  the  headland.  The  air  was 
thick  with  snow,  but  in  a  lull  they  sighted 
what  seemed  to  be  the  ship,  and  cries  of 
thanksgiving  went  up  from  the  weary  way 
farers. 

"  The  ship !  the  ship  ! "  they  cried  once 
more,  confident  that  this  could  be  no  mirage. 
The  Eskimo  shook  his  head. 

"  Bad  magic,"  he  said  ;  "  ghost  ship."  But 
the  boys  knew  better.  The  Bowhead  lay  at 
anchor  in  mush  ice  and  among  floes,  ghostly 


144  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

enough  in  the  whirl  of  flying  snow  that  made 
the  outlines  of  spar  and  sail  white  against  the 
leaden  sky,  but  the  ship  in  very  truth,  and 
never  so  welcome  a  sight  in  any  man's  eyes. 
They  shouted  and  hallooed,  and  listened  in  vain 
for  any  response  as  they  neared  her,  and  their 
exultant  hearts  grew  cold  with  fear  as  they 
got  none.  A  terrible  weird  loneliness  brooded 
over  her,  and  it  seemed  to  the  exhausted  boys 
as  if  they  struggled  to  her  side  through  a  bad 
dream. 

There  was  no  greeting  as  they  stepped  on 
deck,  only  the  wail  of  the  wind  through  the 
icy  shrouds.  The  deck  was  drifted  with  snow 
that  held  no  tracks.  The  cabin,  the  forecas 
tle,  the  galley,  all  showed  signs  of  hasty  leave- 
taking,  and  were  unten  anted.  Then,  once 
more  in  the  cabin,  the  truth  came  upon  them 
with  stunning  force.  The  ship  had  been 
abandoned,  and  they  with  it  were  left  to  face 
the  long  loneliness  of  the  coming  Arctic  night 
as  best  they  could.  Joe  sat  down  with  a  pa 
thetic  slump  in  his  broad  shoulders  and  buried 
his  face  in  his  hands,  losing  his  cheerful  cour 
age  for  the  first  time;  nor  did  he  note  for 
quite  a  while  that  Harry  was  face  down  on  the 
captain's  berth  sobbing  with  homesickness, 
loneliness,  and  utter  physical  exhaustion.  Of 


WINTER  LIFE   AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    145 

the  hour  that  these  two  spent  in  the  full  reali 
zation  of  their  misfortune,  it  were  best  to  say 
little.  Up  to  that  hour  they  had  been  boys. 
In  it  t^iey  passed  through  the  crucible  that 
melts  and  reshapes  souls,  and  they  came  out 
of  it  men. 

His  anguish  over  and  once  more  master  of 
himself,  Joe  rose,  and,  stepping  to  Harry's 
side,  laid  a  hand  on  his  shoulder.  Then  he 
saw  that  Harry  had  found  peace  in  sleep,  and 
knowing  how  much  he  needed  it,  he  threw  a 

O  ' 

quilt  over  his  shoulders  and  left  him,  going 
on  deck. 

The  Eskimo  had  gone,  and  with  him  the 
dingey. 

It  did  not  change  the  look  of  serenity  in 
Joe's  face.  He  had  met  and  conquered  all 
fears  and  apprehensions  in  the  hour  that  had 
just  passed,  and  one  more  misfortune  could 
have  no  effect  on  him.  He  turned  to  the 
galley,  where  he  started  a  fire,  and  from  the 
cook's  stores  took  the  material  for  a  first-class 
hot  supper.  When  this  was  ready,  he  went 
and  wakened  Harry.  The  two  did  not  say 
much,  but  they  clasped  hands  in  the  dusk  of 
the  cabin,  and  each  saw  the  chancre  toward 

'  O 

manhood  in  the  other's  face,  —  the  look  of 
greater  sturdiness,  greater  self-reliance,  to- 


146  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

gether  with  a  certain  serenity  which  surely 
marks  the  man.  Some  fortunate  men  acquire 
this  serenity,  self -poise,  in  the  face  of  fortune, 
good  or  ill,  early  in  life  ;  some  never,  acquire 
it,  and  they,  as  well  as  the  world,  are  the  worse 
off  for  that. 

They  slept  warm  and  long  that  night,  had  a 
good  hearty,  hot  breakfast  the  next  morning, 
and  felt  fit  to  face  the  world.  It  was  a  bright 
morning,  with  the  sun  struggling  through 
frost  mists,  and  as  they  came  on  deck  they 
found  quite  a  change  in  the  position  of  the 
small  floes  overnight,  and  some  open  water 
near  the  ship.  Out  of  this  open  water  came 
a  quavering  hail. 

"  Kile,  innuit"  (Come  here,  man) ;  "kile,  in- 
nuit,"  cried  Joe  with  delight,  and  the  Eskimo 
paddled  alongside  in  the  dingey.  He  touched 
the  ship  gingerly,  but  it  neither  flew  away 
nor  burned  him.  He  climbed  aboard  and 
looked  earnestly  at  Joe  and  Harry,  who  shook 
his  hand  cordially.  Then  his  face  lighted  up 
with  a  broad  grin. 

"  Nagouruk,"  he  said.  "  No  more  ghosts. 
Good  magic.  White  man  great  ankut " 
(wizard). 

That  was  all.  He  thought  it  great  magic 
that  the  boys  had  made  the  ghost  ship  real 


WINTER   LIFE   AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    147 

and  were  living  aboard  it  in  safety.  Hence 
forth  he  did  not  question  his  own  safety  there, 
but  the  night  before  he  had  feared  to  go 
aboard  lest  it  sail  off  with  him  into  the  un 
discovered  country,  as  it  had  in  the  mirage. 

That  day  the  two  boys  —  we  will  call  them 
boys  still,  though,  remember,  they  have  the 
hearts  of  men  —  took  stock  of  their  situation, 
and  found  it  not  so  bad  after  all.  The  cap 
tain  and  crew  were  gone  southward,  probably 
to  safety,  but  they  had  left  behind  the  ship, 
with  abundance  of  provisions  and  all  sorts  of 
supplies,  including  a  good  amount  of  coal. 
There  was  really  no  reason  why  they  should 
not  be  warm  and  comfortable  all  winter  long, 
and  find  safety  with  the  returning  whalemen 
the  next  summer.  If  they  had  been  short  of 
provisions  or  without  the  splendid  shelter  and 
the  coal  that  they  had,  it  might  have  been 
wise  to  attempt  to  work  south  on  the  chance 
of  catching  a  belated  whaleship  at  Point 
Hope.  As  it  was,  the  chance  was  too  slender, 
and  it  was  best  to  face  the  winter  just  where 
they  were. 

Thus  they  planned  their  life  anew,  and 
went  leisurely  about  their  preparations.  The 
Eskimo  wished  to  leave  them  for  a  time.  His 
family  were  at  the  village  at  Point  Lay,  and 


148  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

he  would  see  them  again.  He  would  come 
back,  perhaps  bring  his  friends  with  him,  and 
they  would  build  another  village  ashore,  so 
that  he  might  be  near  his  white  brothers. 
The  boys  thought  well  of  this.  The  friendly 
Eskimos  might  be  of  great  help  to  them,  and 
already  there  was  in  Joe's  mind  a  half-formed 
plan  in  which  they  were  to  be  partners.  So, 
loading  him  down  with  such  provisions  as  he 
could  best  carry,  a  rifle,  and  abundant  am 
munition,  to  his  great  delight,  they  bade  him 
good-by,  and  he  started  bravely  through  the 
snow  alongshore.  They  had  no  fear  for  his 
safety.  He  would  burrow  deep  in  the  drifts 
at  night  or  in  case  of  severe  weather,  and 
reach  the  village  safe  and  sound. 

As  if  for  his  encouragement  and  their  own, 
there  followed  several  days  of  halcyon  weather. 
It  was  calm  and  the  sun  shone  brightly ;  and 
though  the  temperature  remained  below  freez 
ing  and  the  thermometer  went  below  zero  at 
night,  the  air  was  so  dry  that  it  did  not  seem 
nearly  as  cold  as  it  was.  Yet  they  knew  they 
were  soon  to  face  deadly  cold,  when  the  mer 
cury  would  drop  to  fifty  below  and  fierce 
gales  sweep  over  them  for  weeks,  and  they 
must  prepare  for  it.  The  position  of  the  ship 
they  could  not  change,  but  it  seemed  reason- 


WINTER   LIFE   AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    149 

ably  safe.  It  was  well  behind  the  headland, 
in  shallow  water ;  aground,  as  they  soon  dis 
covered.  The  shore  ice  would  form  thick 
about  it,  and  it  could  not  be  touched  by  the 
moving  pack,  which  would  grind  back  and 
forth  all  winter  half  a  mile  to  seaward.  Their 
next  care  was  to  decide  in  what  part  of  the 
ship  they  could  live  most  comfortably.  The 
galley  was  large  enough ;  it  had  the  range, 
on  which  they  could  best  cook,  and  there  were 
two  bunks  in  it  which  the  Chinese  steward 
and  his  assistant  had  occupied.  No  one  is 
cleaner  than  a  cleanly  Chinaman,  and  these 
bunks  bore  inspection.  They  might  fumigate 
them  and  bring  up  their  own  bedding  and 
supplies,  and  it  was  by  all  odds  the  most 
convenient  place.  For  all  this,  Joe  shook  his 
head. 

"  It  won't  do,  Harry,"  he  said  ;  "  the  place 
will  be  too  cold.  It  is  on  deck  ;  and  when  the 
thermometer  gets  way  down  and  the  gales 
blow  for  a  month  steady,  we  shall  surely  freeze 
to  death." 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Harry  doubtfully ; 
"  but  it  is  low  amidships  here  between  the 
bulwarks.  If  we  could  only  build  a  double 
house  right  around  it,  the  air  space  between 
the  two  would  be  a  great  protection,  —  and  it 


150  THE  YOUNG   ICE  WHALERS 

is  so  handy.  Tell  you  what,  there's  some 
spare  boards  and  stuff  down  in  the  main  hold. 
Couldn't  we  do  it  with  them?" 

"  Could  n't  make  it  tight  enough,"  replied 
Joe.  "  The  wind  would  shoot  through  and 
get  at  us.  If  it  was  buried  deep  in  snow — 
but  the  snow  would  blow  away  in  the  wind." 
He  pondered  a  moment,  and  shook  his  head. 

"  What 's  the  matter  with  ice,  then  ?  "  an 
swered  Harry.  "  We  've  got  all  the  ice  we 
want,  right  handy." 

Joe  sprang  to  his  feet  with  a  laugh.  "  I 
believe  you  've  got  it,  this  time,"  he  said. 
"  We  '11  make  a  regular  Eskimo  igloo  all 
around  it  with  ice  blocks,  same  as  we  used  to 
read  about  in  the  schoolbooks.  We  '11  chink 
them  with  snow  and  pour  water  on,  and  when 
it  freezes  we  '11  be  snug  as  need  be." 

They  went  immediately  to  work  while  the 
weather  favored  them.  From  the  floes  along 
side  they  cut  cubical  blocks  which  they  hauled 
aboard  with  a  whip  rigged  to  the  main  yard. 
These  they  piled  one  above  another,  about 
three  feet  from  the  galley  sides.  A  second 
row  was  then  set  up  a  foot  outside  these,  and 
the  space  between  filled  with  snow.  Thus 
they  had  two  ice  walls  with  a  free  air  space 
next  the  building.  Spare  spars  placed  across 


WINTER  LIFE  AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    151 

this  served  for  rafters,  and  they  covered  these 
with  ice  cakes  also.  For  cement,  snow  with 
water  poured  on  was  excellent,  and  at  the  end 
of  three  days  their  protecting  igloo  was  nearly 
finished.  It  filled  the  space  amidships  from 
bulwark  to  bulwark,  and  the  two  architects 
were  very  proud  of  their  creation. 

"  When  you  are  in  Rome,"  said  Harry, 
"you  must  do  as  the  Romans  do,"  and  in  this 
he  had  solved  the  real  secret  of  successful 
winter  life  in  the  Arctic.  Through  a  thou 
sand  generations  stern  necessity  has  taught 
certain  things  to  the  Eskimos,  and  the  explor 
ers  who  most  nearly  follow  their  methods  are 
the  ones  who  winter  in  safety  and  with  least 
loss  of  life  and  comfort. 

Still  in  imitation  of  the  ice-dwellers  of  the 
far  north,  they  made  the  only  entrance  to  this 
big  igloo  through  a  low  tunnel  of  ice  cakes, 
well  chinked  and  mortared  with  snow  and 
water,  and  with  a  deerskin  doorway  that 
dropped  curtainwise  and  could  be  fastened 
tight.  Had  Sir  Christopher  Wren  been  view 
ing  the  completion  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral, 
he  could  have  done  so  with  no  greater  thrill 
of  pride  than  did  these  two  beginners  in  Arc 
tic  life  their  rough  ice  shelter  from  the  cold 
to  come. 


'152  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  I  think  that  makes  it  all  right,"  said  Joe, 
with  great  satisfaction.  "  If  it  does  n't  work 
we  can  retreat  below,  but  with  a  good  fire  in 
the  galley  stove  it  seems  as  if  we  might  be 
comfortable  here,  even  in  the  coldest  weather." 

They  took  stock  of  their  provisions  and 
coal  and,  as  was  to  be  expected,  found  both 
ample  for  a  large  number  of  men.  Trade 
goods  still  held  out,  and  they  could  purchase 
what  the  Eskimos  had  to  offer  during  the 
winter,  if  they  cared  to.  Joe  sighed  as  he 
looked  at  the  whaling  implements,  harpoons, 
bomb  guns,  and  line,  left  just  as  they  had 
been  abandoned,  ready  for  instant  use.  He 
picked  up  a  harpoon  and  handled  it  lovingly. 

"  I  '11  have  a  shot  or  two  with  you,  yet," 
he  said,  "  before  we  get  out  of  the  wilder 


ness." 


"How  do  you  mean?"  asked  Harry; 
"  there  's  no  chance  to  get  whales  in  winter, 
is  there  ?  " 

A  half-formed  plan  in  Joe's  head  took 
shape  in  that  instant. 

"  No,"  he  said,  "  not  in  winter,  but  the 
whales  begin  to  appear  in  the  leads  in  the  ice 
very  early  in  the  spring.  Long  before  the 
ships  can  get  up  here  to  get  at  them,  the  most 
of  them  have  gone  north.  Now,  situated  as 


WINTER  LIFE   AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    153 

-we  are,  we  can  do  whaling  right  from  the  ice, 
if  we  can  get  the  Eskimos  to  help  us.  They 
will  gladly  do  it  for  the  blubber  and  meat, 
and  we  shall  have  the  bone.  That  is  the  best 
part  of  a  whale  nowadays,  anyway.  Here  's 
what  I  plan  for  the  spring  and  summer.  We 
will  get  all  the  bone  and  furs  we  can  this  win 
ter  to  add  to  the  cargo.  We  '11  be  as  careful 
of  the  coal  as  we  can,  and  if  the  Bowhead 
conies  through  the  winter  all  right,  as  I  hope 
she  will,  we  will  try  and  take  her  south  our 
selves,  with  the  help  of  the  Eskimos,  when 
the  ice  opens  next  summer." 

Thus,  well  provided  for  in  the  present,  and 
with  roseate  plans  for  the  future,  they  began 
the  winter.  Daily  the  sun  got  lower ;  so  did 
the  mercury  in  the  thermometer ;  and  often 
for  days  there  was  no  sight  of  the  former 
because  of  flying  snow  and  the  deep  haze  of 
frost-fog.  The  ice  set  more  and  more  firmly 
about  the  Bowhead,  and  the  pack  which 
ground  and  crushed  against  the  edge  of  the 
shore  ice  outside  the  headland  no  longer  made 
any  answering  movement  in  the  frozen  stretch 
about  her.  The  winter  was  upon  them,  and 
there  were  times  when  their  ice  igloo  was  put 
to  severe  tests  as  a  frost  defender.  It  stood 
them  all  well,  and  with  a  good  fire  in  the  gal- 


154  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

ley  range,  it  was  always  comfortable  within. 
In  the  open  space  between  the  galley  and  the 
igloo  frost  crystals  collected,  till,  in  the  glow 
of  lamplight,  the  narrow  way  looked  like  a 
fairy  grotto,  all  hung  with  spangles  and  frost 
gems. 

The  temperature  there  was  always  below 
freezing,  and  Joe  prosaically  suggested  that 
it  would  be  a  good  place  to  hang  their  fresh 
meat,  if  they  had  any  to  hang. 

"  I  wish  our  Eskimo  friend  would  come 
back  and  spear  a  seal  for  us,"  said  Harry. 
"  We  've  had  no  fresh  meat  since  he  left. 
Suppose  he  got  home  safe  ?  " 

They  were  to  have  fresh  meat  soon,  how 
ever,  by  way  of  a  most  interesting  adventure 
that  began  the  very  night  after. 

October  had  come,  and  with  the  middle  of 
it  a  few  brief  days  of  mild  weather.  The 
sun  slanted  upward  in  a  low  sweep  from  the 
southern  horizon,  then  down,  after  scarcely 
three  hours,  leaving  behind  it,  as  it  set,  a 
running  fire  of  beams  that  swept  along  the 
horizon  like  a  prairie  fire,  then  the  dancing 
splendor  of  the  aurora  and  a  full  moon  that 
swung  the  circuit  of  the  sky  without  setting. 
The  refraction  in  the  air,  first  cousin  to  the 
mirage,  gave  this  moon  odd  shapes  that  were 


WINTER  LIFE  AND  INNUIT  FRIENDS    155 

indescribably  weird.  Sometimes  it  was  cubi 
cal,  sometimes  an  elongated  oval,  and  often 
there  were  rainbows  in  the  frost  about  it  that 
made  mock  moons,  two  or  three  ranged  in  ir 
regular  order,  with  encircling  fires  that  were 
as  beautiful  as  ghostly.  The  boys,  warmly 
wrapped  in  furs  chosen  from  their  stock, 
would,  on  these  calm  nights,  often  promenade 
the  deck  for  an  hour,  viewing  these  pheno 
mena  and  listening  to  the  crash  and  grind 
of  the  pack  against  the  shore  ice  beyond  the 
headland.  This  night  they  had  done  so,  then 
retired  to  the  glow  of  their  evening  lamp, 
with  books  from  their  stock.  They  were 
studying  navigation,  and  a  book  on  engineer 
ing  and  seamanship  from  the  engineer's  locker, 
that  they  might  be  better  able  to  handle  the 
vessel  if  the  chance  came  to  them  in  the 
summer. 

Weariness  overcame  them  there,  and  Joe 
had  already  turned  in,  while  Harry  dozed  in 
the  chair  over  his  book.  He  started  up  once, 
thinking  he  heard  footsteps,  then  settled  down 
again,  sure  that  it  had  been  only  imagination. 
There  he  slept  while  the  footsteps  came  along 
the  deck,  hesitated  at  the  deerskin  curtain, 
and  then  something  tore  it  down.  Harry 
stirred  uneasily,  but  did  not  wake.  The  steps, 


156  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

padded  but  scratchy,  came  along  the  ice  tun 
nel  and  hesitated  again  at  the  closed  door  to 
the  galley.  Then  something  clawed  at  this 
door  and  shook  it,  sniffling.  Harry  came  to 
his  feet  with  a  bound  and  listened,  uncertain 
whether  he  had  heard  or  dreamed.  Then  the 
sound  went  round  the  side  of  the  galley,  as 
if  something  were  crowding  through  the  ice 
passage  to  the  window. 

"  Joe  !  "  cried  Harry  ;  "  Joe,  there 's  some 
thing  here  !  "  Joe  roused  sleepily,  then  tum 
bled  out  of  his  bunk  with  a  rush,  for  there 
was  a  crash  of  glass  and  a  great  white  fore 
arm  came  through  the  little  window  with  a 
black  palm  and  long,  hooked  nails.  Then  the 
lamp  went  out. 

Darkness,  and  the  sound  of  heavy  breath 
ing,  with  a  terrifying  recollection  of  that 
great  arm  and  the  palm  with  long  nails  ! 

The  two  boys  crowded  together  in  the  cor 
ner  of  the  galley,  quivering  and  terrified. 
The  thought  of  the  winter  ghosts  that  the 
Eskimo  had  said  they  would  find  at  Icy  Cape 
came  to  both,  and  did  not  seem  like  a  foolish 
superstition  now. 

"What  is  it?  What  is  it?"  cried  Harry 
in  terror.  His  voice  sounded  faint  and  far 
away  to  him. 


WINTER  LIFE   AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    157 

"  Can't  you  find  a  match  ?  "  replied  Joe  be 
tween  his  set  teeth.  He  was  trying  hard  to 
conquer  this  superstitious  terror,  but  he  only 
partly  succeeded. 

Harry  tremblingly  pulled  a  match  from  his 
pocket  and  struck  it.  The  arm  was  there, 
reaching  and  clawing,  and  behind  it  gleamed 
two  fierce  little  eyes.  Joe  snatched  the  45-70 
from  the  corner  and  began  pumping  shot  after 
shot  at  the  little  window.  In  the  confines  of 
the  little  room  the  report  was  deafening,  and 
the  match  went  out  at  the  first  shot. 

Harry  lighted  another.  The  arm  hung 
limp  and  there  was  a  heaving  and  straining 
without  that  fairly  cracked  the  galley  walls, 
then  silence. 

"  Ghost  or  devil  or  what  all,  I  've  finished 
him,"  said  Joe,  after  watching  for  a  moment 
with  pointed  rifle. 

Harry  relighted  the  lamp.  His  courage 
was  coming  back,  but  his  nerves  were  still 
shaky.  Then  he  flung  wide  the  door  while 
Joe  held  the  rifle  in  readiness.  Darkness 
was  there,  but  neither  sound  nor  ghost.  Cau 
tiously,  lamp  in  hand  and  rifle  ready,  they 
entered  the  space  between  the  ice  and  the 
galley  sides,  and  there  they  saw  their  ghost 
motionless.  He  was  bulky  and  white,  so  bulky 


158  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

that  he  filled  the  three-foot  space  tight,  with 
his  arm  still  stuck  through  the  cabin  window. 

"Well/'  said  Joe,  "he's  white  enough  for 
a  ghost,  but  he  is  n't  one.  He 's  a  white  bear, 
and  a  fine  one.  Let 's  get  him  out  of  that  and 
skin  him  before  he  freezes." 

In  the  light  of  the  ship's  lanterns  they 
tugged  and  wrestled  for  an  hour  to  get  the 
great  creature  out  through  the  igloo  entrance 
to  the  deck.  There  they  skinned  him  and 
cut  him  up,  hanging  the  four  quarters  in 
what  they  henceforth  named  their  refriger 
ator.  The  pelt  was  a  fine  one,  in  the  full 
strength  of  the  winter  coat.  In  spite  of  the 
cold  and  dim  light,  they  took  it  off  carefully, 
muzzle,  claws,  and  all. 

"  There,"  said  Joe,  "  that  skin  will  bring  a 
hundred  dollars  in  San  Francisco,  if  we  can 
ever  get  it  there.  It  is  a  good  night's  work, 
if  we  were  scared  to  death.  What  do  you 
suppose  brought  him  ?  " 

"  Don't  know,"  replied  Harry,  "  unless  it 
was  the  smell  of  that  salmon." 

Both  sniffed,  and  on  the  air  from  the  igloo 
caught  the  faint  odor  of  the  salted  salmon 
that  they  had  put  on  the  galley  range  to  sim 
mer  and  freshen.  He  was  probably  right. 
The  white  bear  has  a  keen  scent,  and  the 


WINTER  LIFE   AND  INNUIT  FRIENDS    159 

odor  of  cooking  will  draw  him  a  long  way 
across  the  ice. 

They  repaired  the  window,  re-closed  the 
igloo  entrance,  and  though  somewhat  appre 
hensive,  slept  soundly  and  unmolested  until 
daylight.  Then  they  sought  and  found  tracks 
showing  where  the  bear  had  climbed  a  drift 
and  come  aboard  by  way  of  the  stern.  Other 
tracks  seemed  to  show  that  their  intruder  had 
a  companion  that  had  circled  the  ship  on  the 
snow  but  had  not  boarded  it.  This  adventure 
gave  them  fresh  meat,  the  first  for  a  long 
time,  and  they  ate  bear  steaks  till  they  were 
weary  of  them  ;  but  it  also  gave  them  an  idea 
for  the  capture  of,  more  valuable  pelts. 

"  If  white  bears  are  coming  our  way,"  said 
Joe,  "  we  '11  try  and  fix  things  so  they  '11  stop 
with  us.  We  must  make  a  little  shelter  on 
the  deck  aft,  and  set  a  whale-oil  lamp  burning 
in  it  with  a  kettle  of  salmon  stewing  over  it. 
Then  we  '11  fix  things  so  that  if  his  bearness 
approaches  it,  he  '11  breast  a  string  and  set  off 
a  rifle.  One  of  those  old  Springfield  muzzle- 
loaders  that  dad  couldn't  sell,  even  to  the 
mersinkers,  will  be  just  the  thing.  We  can 
load  it  half  full  of  bullets,  and  it  don't  mat 
ter  if  it  does  burst.  There 's  plenty  more  of 
them." 


160  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Good  idea,"  said  Harry.  "  If  bears  are 
coming,  I  'd  like  to  have  something  stop  them 
before  they  get  far  enough  aboard  to  scare  me 
the  way  the  last  one  did.  We  '11  do  it  to-day." 

They  did,  but  that  night  one  of  the  ter 
rible  Arctic  blizzards  set  in,  and  it  never 
let  up  for  a  month.  Their  trap  was  rigged, 
but  they  could  do  nothing  toward  baiting  it 
in  such  tremendous  weather;  they  scarcely 
ventured  outdoors,  and  got  along  as  best 
they  could  by  the  galley  fire.  Yet  the  time 
did  not  hang  very  heavily  on  their  hands. 
They  read  and  studied,  played  all  the  games 
there  were  aboard  the  vessel,  and  slept  a  great 
deal.  In  the  gloom  and  cold  of  the  full  Arc 
tic  night  the  tendency  to  hibernate  seems  to 
come  on  men  as  well  as  animals,  and  they 
sometimes  slept  the  round  of  the  clock  at  a 
stretch. 

The  fifteenth  of  November  the  gale  ceased 
as  suddenly  as  it  had  come  up,  and  they  ven 
tured  out  at  high  noon.  The  air  was  still,  but 
intensely  cold.  Clad  in  reindeer-skin  suits 
from  head  to  toe,  with  fur  hoods,  and  little 
but  the  eyes  exposed  to  the  frost,  they  looked 
about.  A  luminous  twilight  hung  over  all 
the  wastes  of  snow.  To  the  north  the  sky 
was  purple  black,  flushing  pink  in  quivering 


WINTER  LIFE  AND   INNUIT  FRIENDS    161 

streams  of  light  toward  the  zenith,  where 
glowed  great  stars.  The  heavens  seemed, 
through  this  luminous  pink  haze,  these  quiv 
ering  bars  of  aurora,  to  have  wonderful  depth 
and  perspective.  Great  golden  stars  shone 
there,  some  far,  some  seemingly  very  near, 
and  the  distance  between  the  two  was  very 
marked.  The  wonderful  depths  of  infinite 
space  were  revealed  to  them  as  never  before, 
and  they  gazed  in  awe  and  delight. 

"  I  never  knew  before,"  cried  Harry,  "  what 
was  meant  by  the  depths  of  the  heavens. 
At  home  the  sky  is  a  flat  surface  with  holes 
poked  in  it  that  are  stars.  Here  you  see  them 
worlds,  with  millions  of  miles  of  space  before 
and  behind  and  around  them.  It  is  wonder 
ful.  See  the  south,  too  ;  it  is  afire !  " 

A  little  to  the  east  of  due  south  lambent 
flames  sprang  above  the  horizon  as  if  a  great 
fire  burned  there.  They  shot  up  and  moved 
westward  as  though  a  great  forest  was  going 
down  before  a  smokele^  conflagration.  On 
to  the  west  they  moved,  and  sank,  glowed,  and 
disappeared  —  burnt  out. 

It  was  the  last  of  the  midday  sun,  and  they 
were  not  to  see  it  again  until  well  into  Febru 
ary.  A  faint  breeze  seemed  to  blow  in  from 
the  south,  as  if  bearing  a  message  and  a  pro- 


162  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

mise  that  the  sun  would  come  again.  Joe 
sniffed  this  breeze. 

"Come/'  he  said;  "let's  set  that  bear 
trap.  This  wind  from  the  south  will  send 
the  smell  of  burnt  salmon  miles  and  miles 
out  on  the  ice.  It  ought  to  bring  a  lot  of 
bears." 

They  did  as  Joe  suggested,  and  as  the  south 
wind  blew  gently  and  a  spell  of  mild  weather 
ensued,  kept  the  toll-dish  stewing  for  a  long 
time.  It  was  two  days  before  anything  hap 
pened.  Then  they  were  both  called  from 
the  cabin  by  a  tremendous  explosion.  They 
rushed  to  the  trap  and  found  a  bear  sprawled 
before  it,  dead,  with  a  big  hole  torn  in  his 
neck.  Nothing,  moreover,  was  left  of  the 
Springfield  musket  but  the  breech.  The 
tremendous  charge  with  which  it  had  been 
loaded  had  blown  the  barrel  to  pieces  and 
shattered  the  bait  stew  as  well. 

"  Whew  !  "  exclaimed  Joe.  "  We  did 
things  that  time,  did  n't  we !  How  much 
did  you  put  in  that  old  musket,  anyway  ?  " 

Harry  looked  a  little  guilty.  "  Why,"  he 
answered,  "  you  said  to  fill  her  about  half  full, 
and  I  did.  There  were  nine  bullets,  I  think." 

"  Well,  I  should  say  so,"  replied  Joe, 
"  by  the  looks  of  the  bear.  Guess  we  won't 


WINTER  LIFE  AND  INNUIT  FRIENDS    1G3 

load  quite  so  heavy  next  time.  I  don't  care 
for  the  old  musket,  there  's  plenty  more,  but 
it  don't  do  to  tear  up  the  pelt  too  badly. 
Great  Scott,  what 's  that !  " 

Both  jumped,  for,  silhouetted  against  the 
aurora,  figures  stepped  from  the  drift  to  the 
deck  and  approached.  The  thoughts  of  both 
were  of  bears,  but  a  second  glance  showed 
these  figures  to  be  men,  and  in  a  moment  they 
were  greeting  their  Eskimo  friend  of  the  ice 
and  several  others  who  had  come  with  him. 
Moreover,  as  they  soon  learned,  the  entire 
village  was  ashore,  having  decided  to  move 
to  the  neighborhood  of  the  ship,  where  food 
and  trade  goods  were  plenty.  They  had 
come  up  with  dog  teams,  and  the  women  were 
already  carving  huts  from  the  deep  snow  just 
back  of  the  beach,  in  a  spot  sheltered  from 
the  north  winds. 

It  was  not  until  these  other  human  beings 
appeared  that  the  boys  realized  how  lonely 
they  had  been,  and  in  their  joy  at  the  sight 
of  fellow  creatures  they  planned  a  feast,  to 
which  they  invited  the  whole  village.  This 
took  place  the  next  day,  and  though  the  vil 
lage  numbered  scarce  fifteen  adults,  they  ate 
up  pretty  nearly  the  whole  bear.  However, 
it  made  them  very  friendly  toward  the  two 


164  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Crusoes  of  the  ship,  and  the  boys  did  not 
grudge  the  feast  in  any  case. 

You  must  not  directly  ask  an  Eskimo  his 
name  ;  they  have  a  superstitious  dread  of  tell 
ing  it  to  your  face,  but  you  may  ask  another, 
even  in  his  presence,  and  etiquette  is  in  no 
wise  outraged.  So  now,  for  the  first  time, 
they  learned  that  the  one  they  had  rescued 
from  the  floating  cake  months  before  was 
Harluk,  that  his  wife  was  Atchoo,  while 
other  men  of  the  village  were  Kroo,  Konwa, 
Neako,  and  Pikalee. 

They  had  plenty  of  dogs,  sleds,  two  umi 
aks  which  they  had  brought  on  the  sleds, 
clothing,  and  a  small  amount  of  blubber  and 
seal  meat.  That  was  all ;  but  they  were  happy, 
and  viewed  with  no  fear  the  narrow  margin 
which  separated  them  from  starvation  in  the 
Arctic  midwinter.  Their  snow  igloos,  carved 
deep  in  the  drifts  on  the  leeward  side  of  a  lit 
tle  hill,  and  warmed  by  a  stone  lamp  full  of 
seal  oil,  were  comfortable  and  at  first  clean. 
When  they  were  no  longer  so,  they  moved  a 
few  rods  and  carved  another  without  much 
labor.  If  the  weather  was  not  too  severe,  the 
men  watched  the  margin  where  the  pack  ice 
was  ground  back  and  forth  by  the  shore  ice, 
and  were  sometimes  rewarded  with  a  seal. 


II  MM. IK    \M>  KROO 


WINTER  LIFE  AND  INNUIT  FRIENDS    165 

They  tracked  white  foxes,  ermine,  and  now 
and  then  a  wolf  or  a  bear,  and  exchanged 
the  pelts  with  the  boys  for  hard-tack,  or  blan 
kets,  or  other  necessaries  of  life,  and  were 
singularly  placid  and  good-humored.  Every 
thing  with  them  was  "  Nagouruk,"  and  their 
chief  delight  was  to  visit  the  ship,  and  spend 
hours  in  the  company  of  their  white  friends. 
The  outer  sheltering  igloo  of  ice  cakes,  which 
the  boys  had  built  over  the  galley,  won 
their  admiration  at  once,  and  they  gave  it  the 
greatest  compliment  that  an  Eskimo  can  pay. 
Kroo,  the  oldest  man,  and  in  that  respect  the 
chief,  as  chiefs  go  in  a  little  Eskimo  commu 
nity,  inspected  it  carefully  and  solemnly,  and 
then  announced  oracularly  in  his  own  tongue  : 

"  It  is  good.  The  white  brothers  are  al 
most  as  wise  as  Eskimos." 

Many  conferences  were  held  between  Har- 
luk  and  Kroo  and  the  two  boys  as  to  the 
prospects  and  methods  of  spring  whaling  in 
the  ice,  and  as  they  learned  the  ways  of  the 
whale  from  their  dusky  friends  and  the  ease 
with  which  they  are  captured  by  the  Eskimos 
with  their  primitive  weapons,  Harry  and  Joe 
became  very  enthusiastic  as  to  the  success 
which  awaited  them  with  modern  appliances. 
Harluk  and  Kroo  were  also  greatly  pleased. 


166  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

The  plan  meant  for  them  unlimited  supplies 
of  whale  meat  and  blubber,  and  both  parties 
were  impatient  of  the  long  night  of  fierce  cold 
that  must  still  pass  before  they  could  begin. 
They  got  no  more  bears  for  a  long  time,  be 
cause  the  cold  was  so  severe  that  their  blub 
ber  lamps  went  out  and  the  tolling  smell  of 
stewing  salmon  failed  them.  Joe  remedied 
this  in  part  by  mixing  the  whale  oil  with 
kerosene,  which  did  not  freeze  even  in  the 
most  severe  weather,  and  finally  he  enlarged 
his  lamp  greatly,  using  a  square  kerosene  can 
for  a  reservoir,  and  filling  it  with  kerosene 
alone.  This  worked  much  better,  and  an 
occasional  white  pelt  was  added  to  their  store 
by  this  means.  Out  of  this,  too,  came  a  most 
singular  adventure,  which  was  of  great  ser 
vice  to  the  Eskimos,  and  no  doubt  saved  the 
lives  of  both  boys,  though  it  lost  them  a 
valuable  bearskin. 

It  happened  late  in  February,  after  the 
sun  had  begun  again  to  smile  at  them  for  a 
moment  above  the  southern  horizon,  though 
his  brief  daily  presence  seemed  in  no  wise  to 
abate  the  cold. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK 

THE  "  Ankut,"  as  the  Eskimos  call  him,  the 
wizard,  is  the  bane  of  life  among  the  peaceful 
Arctic  villagers.  He  is  generally  of  greater 
intelligence  than  they,  his  craftiness  mixed 
with  great  greed  and  ferocity,  and  he  brings 
strife  and  misery  to  the  community  on  which 
he  fastens.  Beginning  with  little  tricks  and 
pretended  magic,  he  gains  an  ascendency  over 
the  tribe  which  often  ends  in  their  giving  up 
to  him  most  of  their  possessions  and  some 
times  their  lives.  Growing  thus  in  power  and 
audacity,  he  becomes  a  veritable  tyrant,  and 
his  career  usually  ends  in  the  utter  disaster  of 
the  people  whom  he  rules,  or  else  they  in  their 
extremity  overcome  their  superstitious  fears 
and  drive  him  out.  In  either  case  he  is  apt  to 
become  an  outlaw,  living  by  brigandage,  and 
working  ruin  wherever  he  goes.  Among  the 
tribes  of  northern  Siberia  the  Russians  have 
given  him  the  name  of  "  Shaman,"  but  in 
Alaska  a  Pacific  coast  term  is  applied  to  him 


168  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

when  he  becomes  an  outlaw,  and  he  is  known 
to  the  whalemen  as  a  "  highbinder."  Often 
times  he  is  a  half-breed  descendant  of  a  white 
father  and  Eskimo  mother,  and  seems  to  in 
herit  the  evil  cunning  of  both  races.  Driven 
from  a  community  by  its  utter  ruin  or  by 
force,  the  highbinders  band  together  and  rove 
about,  preying  upon  the  gentle  and  supersti 
tious  villagers,  and  spreading  disaster  and 
terror  wherever  they  go.  They  play  strange 
tricks,  murder,  and  rob  with  no  fear  of  any 
thing  except  superior  force,  and  carry  off 
boys  and  girls  and  sometimes  grown  men  and 
women  into  slavery. 

There  came  a  week  of  chinook  weather  just 
at  the  last  of  February.  The  Indian  tribes  a 
thousand  miles  to  the  south  have  named  the 
warm  wind  from  the  Japanese  current  "  chi 
nook,"  from  the  name  of  a  tribe  whose  habitat 
was  to  the  southwest  of  them,  the  direction 
whence  this  wind  came,  and  the  name  has 
come  to  be  applied  to  it  the  continent  over. 
Down  there,  no  doubt,  this  chinook  melted  the 
snow,  and  gave  the  first  promise  of  coming 
spring.  The  faint  breath  of  it  that  reached 
the  far  Arctic  regions  where  our  friends  win 
tered  could  do  nothing  of  that  sort,  but  it  did 
bring  a  period  of  mild,  clear  weather,  when 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    169 

the  dry  air  seemed  positively  warm  during  the 
few  hours  of  sunshine,  while  through  the  long 
night,  under  the  dancing  light  of  the  aurora, 
the  thermometer  barely  descended  to  zero. 
The  first  night  of  this  warm  weather  and 
faintly  breathing  southern  air  brought  two 
bears  in  from  the  ice-fields,  one  of  which  was 
killed  at  the  trap.  The  boys,  rushing  out, 
saw  the  other  on  the  ice  near  by,  and  Harry 
killed  him  by  a  lucky  moonlight  shot  with  the 
45-70.  Thus  two  fine  pelts  were  added  to 
their  collection,  which  now  numbered  ten  fine 
and  three  less  valuable  ones,  captured  by  them 
selves  or  bought  from  their  Eskimo  friends. 
Joe  figured  that  the  value  of  these  in  the 
San  Francisco  fur  market  would  not  be  less 
than  a  thousand  dollars,  and  they  decided  that 
they  would  keep  watch  while  the  south  wind 
lasted  and  thus  lose  no  chances  of  getting 
more. 

That  night  Harry  called  Joe  hastily,  and 
the  two,  fur-wrapped  and  rifle  in  hand,  lis 
tened  into  the  magnificent  whiteness  of  the 
moon-flooded  night. 

"  There  !  "  cried  Harry.     "  There  it  is  !  " 
A   low,   half-fierce,  half-mournful,  wailing 
howl  came  from  the  ridge  of  land  above  the 
Eskimo  village.     It  was  repeated  to  the  right 


170  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

and  left,  and  came  again  and  again  at  brief 
intervals. 

"  Wolves?  "asked  Harry. 

"  I  should  think  so/'  said  Joe ;  "  but  "— 

Both  boys  shivered  and  drew  nearer  to 
gether,  as  if  for  mutual  protection.  The 
weird  glamour  of  the  Arctic  night  was  upon 
them,  and  they  thought  again  of  the  story 
that  Harluk  had  told  them  of  the  winter 
ghosts  at  Icy  Cape. 

"  Look  there,"  cried  Joe.  «  The  Eskimos 
are  out." 

They  dimly  saw  two  figures,  in  the  radiance 
of  the  full  moon,  come  from  the  direction  of 
the  Eskimo  village.  Silhouetted  against  the 
snow,  they  moved  to  the  right  and  left  of  the 
ridge,  seemed  to  pause  a  moment,  and  then 
went  back.  There  came  the  wolf-like  howling 
again,  but  this  time  it  had  a  sort  of  jubilant 
ring  in  it.  It  was  heard  no  more  that  night, 
though  both  boys  were  up  for  a  considerable 
time  listening  for  it. 

At  dawn  the  next  day  Harluk  appeared 
with  woe  in  his  countenance.  "  Good-by," 
he  said;  " Eskimo  all  go  to-day." 

"  But  why  ?  "  asked  Joe  in  wonder ;  "  are 
you  not  all  right  here  with  us  ?  " 

"  Yesterday,"  said  Harluk,  "plenty  all  right. 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    171 

Last  night  Nunatak  (ice  spirit)  people  send 
ghost  wolves  for  food.  Eskimo  put  out  plenty. 
Then  they  go  away.  To-morrow  night  come 
again.  Bimeby  food  gone,  furs  gone,  then 
they  take  Eskimo.  More  better  Eskimo  go 
away  first.  Too  much  winter  ghosts  at  Icy 
Cape." 

Joe  was  in  dismay  at  the  thought  of  losing 
the  village.  The  companionship  of  the  Eski 
mos  meant  much  to  the  two  boys,  and  their 
leaving  would  break  up  their  plans  for  the 
spring.  But  at  first  all  argument  was  in  vain. 
The  Eskimos  had  had  experience  with  the  Nu 
natak  people  before.  When  Eskimos  settled 
in  their  realm,  they  must  pay  tribute  to  the 
ghost  wolves  sent  or  move  out.  There  was 
no  alternative.  If  the  wolves  howled  again, 
they  must  put  out  something  in  food  or  furs 
or  other  property  to  appease  them,  or  else  the 
ice  spirit  people  would  come  and  take  the 
Eskimos  themselves.  The  boys  conferred  to 
gether  about  this  new  difficulty. 

"  What  do  you  suppose  it  is  ? "  asked 
Harry. 

"  I  don't  know,"  replied  Joe ;  "  but  what 
ever  it  is,  ghost  wolves  or  real  ones,  or  just 
superstition,  we  must  stop  it.  We  can't  lose 
our  friends  this  way,  and  they  must  not  lose 


172  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

their  little  stock  of  food  and  furs.  Will  you 
guard  the  ship  to-night  and  let  me  sit  up  with 
the  Eskimos  ?  Ghosts  must  be  pretty  hard 
to  hit,  but  we  '11  see  what  a  45-70  will  do  for 
them." 

There  was  a  grim  set  to  Joe's  square  jaw, 
and  Harry  felt  the  spirit  of  battle  rise  within 
him  as  he  saw  it. 

"You  go  ahead,"  he  said;  "and  if  the 
ghost  wolves  come  to  the  ship,  I  Jll  deal  with 
them." 

That  night  Joe  sat  in  the  snow  igloo  with 
Harluk,  Atchoo  his  wife,  and  the  two  Eskimo 
babies,  one  a  child  of  a  year  or  so,  the  other 
four  or  five,  both  fat  and  roly-poly  youngsters 
with  beady  black  eyes  that  looked  in  wonder 
at  the  white  man.  A  blubber  lamp  burned 
brightly  in  the  centre  of  this  igloo,  while 
over  it  hung  a  kettle  of  melted  snow-water. 
Round  the  wall  was  a  seat  of  hardened  snow 
covered  with  a  few  sealskins.  In  the  corner 
was  a  bundle.  Joe  examined  this  bundle.  It 
contained  a  small  stock  of  food,  all  there  was 
in  the  igloo,  and  some  furs.  Harluk  was 
prepared  to  propitiate  the  evil  spirits,  should 
they  again  send  their  representatives.  Later 
in  the  evening  more  of  the  Eskimos  came  in, 
until  all  the  members  of  the  village  were  con- 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    173 

centrated  in  this  igloo  and  that  of  Kroo,  the 
head  man,  near  by.  Fear  of  their  ghostly 
oppressors  was  strong  upon  the  village,  which, 
but  for  Joe's  offered  protection,  would  have 
been  already  far  on  the  road  south  toward 
Point  Hope. 

About  midnight  Atchoo  shuddered  and 
drew  her  children  to  her.  The  other  Eskimos 
looked  at  Joe  with  their  brown  faces  whiten 
ing  with  fear,  for  right  down  the  smoke-hole 
came  that  weird,  wailing  howl.  Joe  snatched 
the  rifle  and  scrambled  out  through  the  low 
passage.  The  moon  shone  brightly  on  the 
still  whiteness  of  the  Arctic  midnight,  but 
there  was  no  sign  of  living  creature  in  sight. 
Only  over  the  ridge,  some  distance  away,  came 
the  howl  again,  this  time  with  mocking  into 
nation,  as  if  the  messengers  of  the  Nunatak 
people  laughed  at  his  futile  efforts.  Again 
it  seemed  to  come  right  from  the  ship,  and 
Joe,  baffled  and  angry,  yet  felt  a  chill  of  fear 
thrill  through  him.  He  jumped  as  a  figure 
appeared  almost  at  his  feet,  but  it  was  only 
Kroo  with  a  bundle  of  provisions  and  furs 
in  his  hand,  scrambling  from  the  low  passage 
of  his  igloo. 

"The  ghost  wolves  must  be  fed,"  said  Kroo 
resignedly.  "  My  white  brother  is  brave,  but 


174  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

he  cannot  shoot  spirits  even  if  he  could  find 
them.  I  will  go." 

Quaking  with  fear,  but  doggedly,  the  old 
man  plodded  through  the  snow  toward  the 
ridge.  He  had  gone  but  a  step  or  two  when 
Joe  was  close  behind  him,  walking  as  he 
walked,  so  close  that  from  a  little  distance 
the  two  would  look  like  one  man  in  the  un 
certain  light.  When  they  reached  a  furrow 
between  two  drifts  Joe  dropped  into  this,  out 
of  sight.  Kroo  went  on  a  few  rods  farther, 
placed  his  offering  on  the  snow,  and  turned 
back.  He  would  have  paused  by  Joe,  but 
the  latter  firmly  motioned  him  on,  and  a  few 
moments  later  he  entered  the  igloo. 

There  was  silence  for  a  long  time,  while  Joe 
watched  the  bundle  narrowly  where  it  showed 
dark  against  the  white  surface,  holding  his  rifle 
ready  for  instant  use.  The  minutes  seemed 
to  stretch  into  hours.  He  felt  a  chill  that 
was  not  altogether  cold,  and  his  hand  shook 
with  a  nervous  tremor  that  was  very  close  to 
fear.  Real  wolves  he  did  not  care  for,  yet 
with  all  his  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon  sense,  some 
thing  of  the  superstition  of  the  Eskimos 
seemed  to  touch  him.  Civilization  slips  easily 
from  us  when  face  to  face  with  night,  the 
wilderness,  and  the  unknown.  He  had  a 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    175 

haunting  feeling  that  something  was  near  him, 
yet  peer  as  he  would  he  could  see  nothing 
but  the  whiteness  of  the  moonlit  expanse  of 
snow  and  the  black  bundle,  untouched,  where 
Kroo  had  dropped  it. 

Suddenly  he  sprang  to  his  feet  with  a  gasp 
of  alarm  and  surprise,  for,  seemingly  right 
behind  him,  sounded  a  snarling  howl.  He 
turned  and  looked  eagerly,  and  ran  in  that 
direction  for  a  few  steps,  breathless,  yet  there 
was  no  sign  of  man  or  beast.  He  listened 
intently.  No  sound  for  a  moment,  then  right 
behind  his  back  the  howl  sounded  again,  this 
time  with  a  chuckle  like  laughter  in  it,  and 
he  gave  an  exclamation  of  disgust,  for  the 
bundle  no  longer  lay  dark  upon  the  snow. 
The  ghost  wolves  had  found  their  offering 
and  made  off  with  it.  It  seemed  to  Joe,  as 
he  looked  about,  as  if  he  could  see  a  blur 
of  a  white  figure  moving  along  against  a 
white  snow  ridge,  and  he  brought  his  rifle 
to  his  shoulder  to  shoot,  then  hesitated,  think 
ing  he  must  have  imagined  it,  so  indistinct 
was  the  impression.  As  he  hesitated,  he  saw 
another  blur  of  white  over  a  near-by  ridge, 
almost  within  arm's  reach,  with  what  looked 
like  an  evil  face  in  it,  and  before  he  could 
turn,  a  heavy  mass  of  frozen  snow  struck 


176  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

him  in  the  head  and  stretched  him  sense 
less.  The  figure  of  a  white  bear  with  the 
face  of  a  man  leaned  over  him,  then  lifted 
its  head  and  gave  forth  the  wolf  howl,  a  dif 
ferent  cry  from  the  others  heard  that  night. 
There  was  no  chuckle  in  this  howl.  It  was 
rather  a  cry  of  rage  which  carried  in  itself 
a  command,  and  it  had  scarcely  ceased  before 
ihree  other  bear-like  figures  hurried  up. 
These,  too,  had  the  faces  of  men  and  they 
walked  erect,  yet  they  left  behind  tracks  of 
claws.  Hurried  low  words  were  spoken  in 
Eskimo,  and  the  four  took  up  the  motionless 
figure  and  carried  it  away  from  the  igloos,  yet 
a  little  toward  the  ship,  down  a  long  furrow 
behind  a  drift,  to  a  place  on  the  shore  where 
the  ice  crushing  in  during  the  early  fall  had 
left  a  sheltering  ridge.  Here  they  vanished 
with  their  burden  as  if  they  had  been  dissi 
pated  into  air. 

Harry's  watch  was  long  that  night  on  the 
deck  of  the  Bowhead.  He  felt  appallingly 
lonely  long  before  midnight,  and  it  was  all  he 
could  do  to  keep  from  setting  out  for  the 
shore  to  see  what  was  happening  at  the  igloos. 
The  ghost  wolves  seemed  less  a  matter  of  su 
perstition  now  that  Joe's  sturdy  presence  was 
lacking,  and  he  waited  with  apprehension  for 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    177 

their  howling,  and  shivered  with  nervous 
dread  when  it  began.  He  watched  narrowly, 
and  saw  what  he  thought  was  one  figure  go 
out  from  the  igloo  and  return  in  the  uncer 
tain  light.  Again  he  heard  the  howling,  now 
far,  now  seemingly  near,  and  watching,  with 
his  rifle  under  his  arm,  he  was  surprised 
to  see  a  figure  appear  dimly  in  the  snow 
far  over  on  the  ridge.  He  saw  this  figure 
move  back  and  forth.  Then,  to  his  astonish 
ment,  it  seemed  to  rise  up  from  the  ground 
in  a  horizontal  position  and  move  off,  dis 
appearing  again.  All  this  was  strange  and 
disquieting,  and  for  a  long  time  there  was 
silence. 

What  seemed  hours  followed,  and  at  last 
he  could  stand  it  no  longer.  He  fastened  the 
galley  door,  took  his  repeating  rifle  under  his 
arm,  and  marched  down  the  hard  drifted 
snow  off  the  Bowhead  in  the  direction  of  the 
igloos.  As  he  did  so,  far  off  on  the  ice  to  the 
northward  two  great  white  bears  lifted  their 
noses  and  sniffed  the  wind,  which  blew  from 
the  south.  On  it  came  a  faint  odor  of  fish, 
always  enough  to  attract  any  white  bear,  but 
this  odor  was  more  appetizing  than  any  the 
two  had  ever  smelled  before.  The  salmon 
kettle  was  doing  its  work.  Warily  the  two 


178  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

great  creatures  took  their  way  southward  over 
the  rough  ice. 

At  the  igloos  Harry's  call  for  Joe  was  an 
swered  by  the  furry  Eskimo  head  of  Harluk. 
He  put  this  carefully  out  from  the  tunnel-like 
entrance  and  calmly  said  Joe  was  no  more. 
He  was  a  good  man  and  a  noble  friend,  but 
he  was  no  longer  even  a  spirit.  The  ghost 
wolves  had  no  doubt  eaten  him,  and  thereby 
he  became  as  nothing.  Killed  in  battle, 
eaten  by  real  wolves,  his  spirit  would  yet 
remain,  but  when  the  ghost  wolves  of  the  Nu- 
natak  people  got  a  man,  he  simply  vanished. 
If  Harry  did  not  wish  to  vanish,  it  would  be 
well  for  him  to  come  into  the  igloo. 

Harry  took  Harluk  by  the  shoulders  and 
pulled  the  rest  of  him  out  into  the  moon 
light. 

"  Look  here,  Harluk,"  he  said.  "  You  stop 
this  nonsense,  and  tell  me  where  Joe  is.  Is 
he  with  you  ?  If  not,  where  did  he  go  ? 
Tell  me  and  tell  me  quick." 

Like  cures  like,  says  the  old  adage.  Harry's 
manner  was  so  fierce  that  he  frightened  his 
dusky  friend,  and  for  a  moment  drove  some 
of  the  superstitious  fear  out  of  him.  He 
spoke  to  the  point  when  he  got  his  breath. 
Joe,  he  said,  had  gone  out  with  Kroo  to  bait 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    179 

the  ghost  wolves.  In  this  direction  they  had 
gone,  over  toward  the  ridge.  Kroo  had  come 
back,  Joe  had  not.  This  was  long  ago. 

"  Harluk,"  said  Harry,  "  you  get  that  re 
peating  rifle  that  we  gave  you,  load  it,  and 
coine  with  me.  Tell  Kroo  to  come,  too,  and 
bring  his  gun  and  Konwa.  The  others  shall 
stay  with  the  women  and  children." 

The  three  came,  reluctantly.  Harry's  im 
petuosity  carried  them  along,  but  some  dis 
tance  behind.  Any  one  of  them  would  have 
faced  danger  and  probable  death  without  a 
tremor,  but  this  matter  of  ghosts  was  differ 
ent.  They  reached  the  place  where  Kroo  had 
left  Joe,  and  Kroo  pointed  out  his  tracks, 
indistinct  in  the  moonlight,  then  farther  on 
they  saw  where  he  had  gone  on.  But  they 
saw  neither  the  bundle  nor  Joe.  Unlike  his 
cousin,  the  Indian  of  the  interior,  the  Eskimo 
has  no  special  aptitude  in  following  a  blind 
trail,  hence  it  was  Harry  who  first  noted  in 
the  snow  the  indistinct  marks  of  clawed  feet. 
At  sight  of  this  the  three  men  of  the  north 
collapsed  together  in  a  shivering  bunch.  The 
ghost  wolves  had  been  abroad,  their  eyes  saw 
the  marks  of  their  feet.  Joe,  brave  and  able 
as  he  was,  had  been  eaten  and  was  now  no 
more,  even  in  spirit.  The  Nunatak  people 


180  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

were  no  doubt  all  about  them  at  that  mo 
ment,  and  if  they  got  back  to  the  igloos 
safe,  it  would  be  a  wonder.  They  headed 
tremblingly  for  home,  but  Harry  stepped  reso 
lutely  in  front  of  them.  The  spirit  of  battle 
was  fully  roused  in  him  now,  and  he  had  no 
thought  of  ghosts.  Joe  was  to  be  found,  res 
cued  if  need  be,  and  the  Eskimos  must  be 
made  to  help.  Force  would  be  of  no  avail. 
He  must  meet  superstition  with  superstition. 

"  Look  here,  Harluk,"  he  said,  "  do  you  not 
know  that  the  white  man  is  a  great  ankut,  a 
wizard  much  greater  than  any  ?  Did  we  not 
make  the  ghost  ship  real  ?  Can  I  not  make 
the  spirit  of  a  man  or  a  place  go  into  a  little 
box  and  come  out  again  so  that  you  may  see 
it  and  hold  it  in  your  hand  ?  I  tell  you,  if 
we  do  not  find  Joe  and  you  do  not  help  me, 
the  ghost  birds  of  the  white  man's  Nunatak 
shall  fly  away  with  you.  They  shall  hang 
you  head  down  in  the  smoke-hole  of  his  igloo, 
and  with  fire  shall  torment  your  bones  as  long 
as  the  ice  lasts  in  the  sea.  Now  will  you 
come  with  me  ?  " 

It  was  too  bad,  and  Harry  knew  it,  but 
there  did  not  seem  to  be  any  other  way.  It 
certainly  had  a  great  effect  on  his  supersti 
tious  friends.  They  drew  suddenly  back  from 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    181 

him  with  an  alarm  that  nearly  made  him  laugh 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  he  felt  the  situation 
to  be  critical.  He  held  one  hand  aloft  and 
seemed  to  listen.  "  The  ghost  birds  are  com 
ing,"  he  cried  ;  "  I  hear  their  wings  !  " 

Konwa's  teeth  chattered  audibly,  Harluk 
was  sullenly  silent  under  this  counter  pres 
sure  of  conflicting  ghosts,  but  Kroo,  the  old 
head  man,  drew  himself  up  with  a  certain 
dignity.  He  seemed  to  conquer  his  fears,  and 
for  the  rest  of  the  night  he  acted  the  part  of  a 
brave  man.  "  There  be  many  wizards  abroad 
to-night,"  he  said,  "  and  my  white  brother  is 
perhaps  one.  Kroo  will  help  his  friends  in 
spite  of  evil  spirits." 

Then  the  hunt  for  the  missing  man  began 
again.  The  full  moon  shone  low  on  the  ho 
rizon,  and  the  stately  hosts  of  the  aurora 
began  to  parade  the  sky  with  flaunting  crim 
son  banners.  The  two  lighted  up  the  white 
wastes  with  a  radiance  that  was  but  little  less 
than  daylight,  and  with  their  help  they  fol 
lowed  the  claw  tracks  here  and  there.  It 
seemed  as  if  many  ghost  wolves  had  been 
out  that  night,  prowling  along  the  hollows 
between  snow  ridges.  Here  and  there  they 
found  an  imprint  quite  plain,  showing  the 
mark  of  a  heavy  foot  with  claws  on  the 


182  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

front.  By  and  by  Harry  found  a  place 
where  four  of  these  converged  in  a  spot, 
and  something  like  a  heavy  body  had  fallen 
in  the  snow.  Kroo  looked  at  this  place  in 
tently. 

"  Bundle  here/'  he  said. 

Then  the  four  tracks  blurred  into  one  an 
other  and  went  on.  Harry  had  a  moment's 
mental  vision  of  the  indistinct  figure  that  had 
flitted  back  and  forth  in  the  moonlight,  then 
risen  and  gone  off  in  a  horizontal  position, 
and  he  guessed  very  nearly  right  as  to  the 
catastrophe.  He  found  shattered  fragments 
of  a  chunk  of  ice  on  the  snow,  and  on  one  of 
these  what  looked  like  a  spot  of  blood.  A 
great  anger  swelled  in  Harry's  breast  at  the 
sight  of  this,  and  for  a  moment  he  choked 
for  words. 

"  See,"  he  said,  showing  the  blood-stained 
crystal  to  the  Eskimos  ;  "  they  have  hurt  him 
and  carried  him  away.  Here  are  their  tracks. 
It  cannot  be  ghosts.  Ghosts  do  not  draw 
blood.  We  shall  find  them  and  kill  them. 
Kill  them,  do  you  hear?  whether  they  are 
men  or  beasts." 

Kroo  stepped  forward  and  examined  the 
deeper  tracks  critically.  "  Nanuk,"  he  said ; 
"bear;  plenty  bear."  Konwa,  himself  a 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    183 

mighty  bear  hunter,  corroborated  the  testi 
mony. 

This  put  new  courage  into  Harluk  and 
Konwa.  Bears  they  knew  and  would  fight  in 
any  number,  and  for  the  first  time  they  took 
an  active  interest  in  the  proceedings.  The 
trail  was  broad  and  easy  to  follow  in  the  soft 
snow,  and  they  went  on  for  some  distance. 
Down  near  the  shore,  however,  they  lost  it, 
and  did  not  pick  it  up  again.  Then,  at 
Kroo's  suggestion,  they  spread  out  far  apart 
and  began  to  zigzag  along  the  snow,  each 
hunting  carefully. 

But  if  the  light-hearted  Eskimos  had  in  a 
large  measure  lost  their  superstitious  dread, 
the  discovery  of  bear  tracks  had  not  helped 
Harry  to  overcome  his.  Why  should  bears 
attack  Joe  and  carry  him  off  bodily  ?  Why 
had  he  not  used  his  rifle  before  it  happened  ? 
It  was  a  good  deal  of  a  mystery,  and  he 
could  not  help  feeling  that  the  whole  affair 
was  ghostly  and  savored  of  the  supernatural. 
This  in  no  wise  affected  his  courage  and 
eagerness  in  the  hunt. 

There  certainly  were  bears  about,  real  bears, 
for  the  two  that  had  been  attracted  by  the 
salmon  bait  had  nearly  reached  the  ship. 
They  slipped  along  cautiously  from  hummock 


184  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

to  hummock,  and  were  much  disturbed  by  the 
presence  of  men  ashore.  These  they  winded  ; 
but  the  salmon  bait  was  too  much  for  their 
hungry  stomachs,  and  they  went  cautiously 
toward  it.  The  curiosity  of  madam  bear,  or 
else  her  hunger,  was  greater,  for  she  was  well 
in  front  and  stepped  forward  and  breasted 
the  fatal  line,  while  her  lord  and  master  stood 
to  one  side. 

Meanwhile  things  had  been  happening  rap 
idly  over  on  shore.  Harry,  Kroo,  and  Har- 
luk,  armed  with  rifles,  Konwa  with  his  great 
walrus  spear,  had  spread  far  apart  and  were 
hunting  carefully  for  tracks  in  the  snow,  but 
it  was  drifted  so  hard  thereabouts  that  they 
found  none.  Harry  was  nearest  ashore  of 
any,  and  he  suddenly  felt  the  snow  giving 
way  under  his  feet.  He  gave  a  cry  of  alarm 
and  went  down  out  of  sight,  landing  full 
upon  something  solid,  that  in  the  indistinct 
light  of  an  oil  lamp  looked  and  felt  like 
a  bear.  This  creature  turned  and  grappled 
him,  yet  there  was  no  clutch  of  bear's  claws, 
but  rather  the  arms  of  a  man  that  had  hold  of 
him.  The  face  that  was  turned  toward  him 
was  not  that  of  a  bear  either,  but  seemed  to 
be  the  evil  face  of  a  man. 

"Kroo!  Harluk!  Help !"  shouted  Harry, 
and  wrestled  desperately  with  his  opponent. 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    185 

Other  bear-like  figures  seemed  to  swarm 
about  him  and  join  in  the  battle.  As  he 
fought,  he  noted  that  he  seemed  to  be  in  an 
igloo  like  that  of  one  of  the  villagers,  and  he 
backed  toward  the  low  entrance,  clinging  to 
his  adversary  and  dragging  him  with  him. 
His  rifle  had  dropped  in  the  beginning  of  the 
melee,  but  there  was  no  chance  to  use  firearms. 
It  was  a  hand-to-hand  struggle,  in  which  the 
numbers  of  his  adversaries  were  of  little  use 
to  them.  As  he  backed  toward  this  igloo 
entrance,  he  saw  another  figure  rise  from  the 
further  corner,  not  that  of  a  man-faced  bear, 
this  one,  but  of  a  fur-clad  man.  It  seemed 
to  take  his  part  in  the  conflict,  and  hustled 
toward  the  low  entrance  also.  Then  the  lamp 
was  kicked  over,  and  the  affray  went  on  in 
the  dark.  It  was  a  strange  mix  up,  but  Harry 
found  himself  outside  after  a  little,  where  he 
could  see  and  act,  and,  seizing  an  opportunity, 
he  dealt  his  opponent  a  stunning  blow  in  the 
face  with  his  fist.  It  broke  his  hold,  and  he 
had  a  chance  to  turn,  just  in  time,  for  another 
man-faced  bear  was  leveling  a  rifle  at  him. 
Harry  struck  this  aside  as  it  went  off,  and  the 
bullet  whistled  harmlessly  by.  He  grappled 
with  this  new  adversary,  and  found  himself 
much  stronger.  Round  and  round  on  the 


186  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

snow  they  went ;  but  another  one  seized  him 
from  behind,  and  the  two  bore  him  to  the 
snow,  and  held  him  there. 

The  next  moment  he  saw  Joe,  struggling 
weakly  on  the  snow  beside  him,  held  down 
by  other  men  clad  in  bearskins.  He  heard 
these  bear-like  men  speak  in  Eskimo  to  one 
another.  His  own  hands  and  Joe's  were  hur 
riedly  bound  with  walrus-hide  thongs;  then 
the  five  men,  —  he  could  count  them  now  and 
take  note  of  their  actions,  —  rifle  in  hand,  ad 
vanced  toward  the  ship.  They  began  to  shoot 
hastily  and  inaccurately,  as  Eskimos  will. 

The  struggle  had  taken  place  almost  en 
tirely  under  the  snow,  and  the  shot  which  had 
missed  Harry  was  the  first  thing  to  call  the 
attention  of  Kroo  and  his  men  to  the  affray. 
Harluk  and  Kroo  could  not  fire  while  it  lasted, 
lest  they  shoot  their  friends.  Konwa,  how 
ever,  mighty  bear  hunter  and  fearing  no 
thing  but  ghosts,  set  his  walrus  spear  at  the 
charge  and  plunged  valiantly  at  the  group. 
He  received  one  of  the  first  bullets  from  the 
fusillade  and  fell.  Kroo  and  Harluk,  seeing 
themselves  over-matched,  and  both  Harry  and 
Joe  out  of  the  combat,  emptied  their  rifles 
hastily  and  without  aim,  then  turned  and  fled 
before  the  superior  numbers. 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    187 

The  battle  seemed  lost.  Joe  and  Harry 
tugged  in  vain  at  their  bonds.  Konwa  lay 
face  down  upon  his  walrus  spear,  and  Kroo 
and  Harluk  fled  for  safety.  One,  who  seemed 
to  be  a  leader  of  the  enemy,  spoke  to  the 
others. 

"  Let  them  go,"  he  said  in  Eskimo.  "  We 
can  get  them  later.  Let  us  attend  to  these 
two  first." 

He  beckoned  to  another,  and  the  two  took 
a  stand  by  Joe  and  Harry.  Harry  recog 
nized  the  one  by  him  as  the  man  with  whom 
he  had  first  struggled,  and  he  saw  with  much 
satisfaction  that  one  of  his  eyes  was  well 
closed  by  that  last  blow.  The  other  eye,  how 
ever,  looked  upon  him  with  an  evil  gleam  of 
vindictive  triumph  in  it.  He  leveled  his  rifle 
full  at  Harry's  head. 

"  Shoot,"  he  said  to  the  other  one,  who 
had  taken  a  similar  position  by  Joe.  "  We 
will  be  well  rid  of  the  dogs." 

Over  on  the  ship  madam  bear  had  just  re 
ceived  the  charge  from  the  Springfield  mus 
ket,  and  was  plunging  and  kicking  in  the 
death  agony  on  the  snow.  Her  mate  watched 
this  with  dismay,  then  anger,  and  finally 
rushed  in  blind  fury  at  the  thing  that  had 
hurt  her.  He  swept  the  rifle  three  rods  away 


188  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

with  one  blow  of  his  mighty  paw.  Then  he 
plunged  at  the  toll  kettle,  bit  at  it,  and 
crushed  it  to  his  chest  with  one  great  bear's 
hug.  The  tin  can  flattened,  the  oil  showered 
from  his  shoulders  to  his  feet  as  he  stood  erect 
in  his  rage,  and  igniting,  made  of  him  a  huge 
torch  that  rushed  landward  over  the  snow, 
a  dancing  figure  of  flame  that  snarled  and 
roared,  leaped  and  somersaulted. 

Harluk  and  Kroo  saw  this  strange  appari 
tion  first,  and  fled  to  the  right  and  left  with 
yells  of  superstitious  fear.  On  it  came,  tear 
ing  across  the  snow,  right  toward  the  outlaw 
Eskimos  and  their  victims.  The  two  about 
to  murder  hesitated  and  lowered  their  rifles. 

"  What  is  it  ?  What  is  it  ?  "  asked  the 
men  of  the  bearskins,  one  of  another,  and 
the  reply  was  but  one  word,  "  Ghost." 

Harry  heard  and  saw,  and  quick-wittedly 
took  advantage  of  the  opportunity.  He 
struggled  to  a  sitting  position  and  shouted  in 
Eskimo  :  "  Come,  spirit !  I,  the  wizard,  com 
mand  you.  Come  and  burn  them  with  great 
fire.  Come  fire  spirits  all,  and  burn  them." 

The  strange  figure  of  flame  seemed  to  obey 
his  words.  It  rushed,  roaring  and  capering, 
at  them.  It  was  tod  much  for  the  Eskimo  mind 
to  stand.  The  men  who  had  themselves  posed 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    189 

as  ghosts  were  astonished  at  this  far  greater 
apparition  than  they  could  make.  With  one 
impulse  of  panic  fear  they  turned  and  fled 
inland,  leaving  weapons  and  shedding  their 
bearskins  to  hasten  their  flight.  Nor  did 
they  stop  till  they  had  disappeared  beyond 
the  ridge. 

The  dancing  figure  of  flame  stumbled  and 
stopped  almost  at  the  feet  of  Joe  and  Harry. 
There  was  a  groan,  and  it  lay  motionless,  while 
the  flames  flickered  for  a  moment  and  then 
went  out. 

For  some  time  Joe  and  Harry  struggled 
with  their  bonds,  but  at  last  Joe  slipped  his 
and  released  Harry.  They  looked  the  field 
over.  Konwa  lay  motionless  where  he  had 
fallen.  They  examined  the  blackened  figure 
that  had  been  their  flame  deliverer,  and  find 
ing  it  to  be  the  carcass  of  a  bear,  guessed  the 
strange  accident  that  had  set  them  free  at  the 

o 

very  moment  when  their  case  seemed  hope 
less.  They  shouted  for  Kroo  and  Harluk, 
and  by  and  by  the  two  came,  hesitatingly. 
The  sorrow  of  these  two  at  the  death  of 
Konwa  was  genuine  but  undemonstrative. 
They  were  willing  to  believe  that  the  battle 
had  been  with  men  clad  in  bearskins,  but 
their  theory  of  ghost  wolves  was  in  no  wise 


190  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

shaken.  Yes,  there  was  the  carcass  of  a 
scorched  bear  on  the  snow.  They  saw  that, 
but  they  had  also  seen  a  fire  spirit  dancing 
and  roaring  across  the  snow.  This  spirit 
might  have  tipped  over  the  kerosene  kettle 
and  burned  the  bear,  but  to  say  that  the  bear 
was  the  spirit  was  foolish.  They  knew  enough 
about  wizards  and  their  work  to  know  better 
than  that.  The  white  men  were  certainly 
great  ankuts  as  well  as  good  fighters.  They 
had  driven  away  the  ghost  wolves  for  the 
night,  and  they  had  brought  forth  a  spirit  of 
fire  that  had  driven  away  men,  or  ghost  wolves 
changed  into  men.  Anyway,  the  spirit  of  the 
white  man  was  evidently  much  the  stronger, 
and  they  would  have  no  fear  as  long  as  Joe 
and  Harry  were  by. 

Thus  reasoned  Harluk  and  Kroo.  The  two 
boys  saw  that  it  was  of  no  use  to  argue  with 
them  and  wisely  let  the  matter  stand.  They 
gently  carried  the  body  of  Konwa  back  to 
the  igloos,  and  Joe  and  Harry  stayed  with 
their  friends  till  daybreak.  They  had  col 
lected  the  weapons  that  their  enemies  had 
dropped  in  their  flight,  and  they  stood  watch 
lest  they  return,  but  they  saw  nothing  more 
of  them*  Joe's  head  was  slightly  cut  and 
somewhat  bruised  from  the  blow  he  had  re- 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    191 

ceived,  and  it  ached,  but  otherwise  he  was 
uninjured,  and  he  made  light  of  the  whole 
matter.  There  was  no  sign  of  the  foe  dur 
ing  the  remainder  of  the  night,  nor  did  the 
ghost  wolves  howl  again. 

At  daybreak,  fully  armed,  they  made  a  care 
ful  survey  of  the  ground.  The  Eskimos,  hav 
ing  no  fear  of  the  Nunatak  people  or  their 
messengers  as  long  as  the  sun  was  shining, 
turned  out  to  a  man.  They  found  near  the 
beach,  in  a  big  drift  behind  a  sheltering  ridge 
of  ice,  the  igloo  into  which  Harry  had  fallen. 
It  seemed  a  temporary  affair,  built,  perhaps, 
for  the  use  of  the  outlaws  in  a  future  attack 
on  the  ship,  or  for  a  convenient  hiding-place 
while  they  terrorized  the  Eskimos.  Joe  had 
no  recollection  between  the  time  he  was  felled 
by  the  chunk  of  ice  and  the  time  he  came  to 
in  the  igloo  and  feebly  joined  Harry  in  his 
struggle  there.  The  place  was  empty,  except 
for  one  bearskin,  evidently  shed  during  the 
fight,  that  its  wearer  might  have  more  free 
dom.  An  examination  of  this  pelt  showed 
the  ingenuity  of  the  outlaw  Ankuts.  The 
carcass  had  been  taken  from  it  through  a  slit 
beneath.  This  left  the  skin  of  the  hind  legs 
and  feet  intact,  with  the  claws  on.  Walking 
in  this  bearskin  suit,  a  man  would  leave  the 


192  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

trail  of  an  animal  with  claws,  and  be  nearly 
invisible  in  the  night,  the  white  skin  being  so 
like  the  snow  in  color.  Slipping  along  the 
drifts,  they  could  thus  play  all  sorts  of  pranks 
on  the  superstitious  Eskimos  with  little  fear 
of  detection,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  even  a 
white  man  could  be  much  puzzled  by  their 
antics. 

The  party  warily  followed  the  tracks  in 
land.  The  blowing,  fine  snow  had  nearly 
obliterated  them  in  spots,  but  they  found  them 
again.  Moreover,  they  found  two  more  bear 
skins,  shed  in  the  hurry  of  flight.  A  mile 
inland  they  found  also  a  larger  and  more  care 
fully  made  igloo,  with  traces  of  dogs  and  a 
sled.  The  marks  showed  that  the  outlaws  had 
hastily  harnessed  up  their  dog  team  and  gone 
on,  with  all  their  belongings,  straight  toward 
the  interior.  This  probably  ended  them,  so 
far  as  the  little  community  at  Icy  Cape  was 
concerned,  and  they  returned  to  the  igloos, 
taking  the  three  bearskins  with  them.  They 
were  excellent  pelts ;  and  Joe,  after  declaring 
the  Eskimos  to  be  half  owners  in  them,  pro 
ceeded  immediately  to  buy  out  their  share. 
The  Eskimos  recognized  this  even-handed  jus 
tice,  and  admired  and  respected  the  boys  for 
it.  But  when  Joe  tried  to  make  them  see 


THE  GHOST  WOLVES  OF  THE  NUNATAK    193 

how  foolish  it  was  to  believe  in  ghost  wolves 
and  the  evil  spirits  of  the  ice,  the  Nunatak 
people,  they  listened  politely,  but  smiled  in 
credulously.  Had  the  boys  not  fought  with 
them  and  heard  them  howl  ?  Yes,  there  were 
bad  men,  too  ;  but  how  did  they  know  but  the 
Nunatak  people  changed  their  wolves  into  bad 
men  and  then  back  again  at  pleasure  ?  Thus 
the  matter  ended. 

They  buried  Konwa  the  next  morning. 
Harry  thought  they  should  read  the  service 
for  the  burial  of  the  dead  over  him,  but  Joe 
vetoed  it.  He  said  that  the  Eskimos  had  fu 
neral  ceremonies  of  their  own,  and  they  ought 
not  to  be  interfered  with.  They  placed  Konwa 
on  a  small  walrus  hide,  dressed  in  his  best 
furs,  with  his  walrus-gut  rain-coat  over  all. 
At  one  hand  was  his  sheevee,  or  big  knife,  in 
the  other  the  walrus  spear  with  which  he  had 
made  his  last  charge,  and  beside  him  were  his 
plate  and  cup.  On  the  very  top  of  the  ridge 
they  laid  him,  carried  thither  by  the  men  of 
the  village,  while  his  widow  wailed  loudly  in 
the  igloo.  They  brought  stones  from  a  ledge, 
blown  bare  by  the  wind,  and  piled  these  in 
a  little  cairn  above  him.  Then  they  walked 
three  times  around  him,  chanting  a  weird 
chant,  while  the  widow  still  wailed  in  the  igloo, 


194  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Beaching  the  igloo  on  their  return,  they 
walked  three  times  around  this,  and  chanted 
again,  while  the  widow  wailed  more  loudly. 
Then  the  chanting  ceased,  the  wailing  was 
cut  off  with  equal  abruptness,  and  the  little 
village  resumed  its  round  of  daily  life. 

Harry  carved  the  name  "  Konwa  "  deep  on 
a  board,  and  added  the  sentence,  "He  died 
bravely,  fighting  for  his  friends,"  and  placed 
this  over  the  body,  supported  by  the  stones. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

WHALING    IN    EARNEST 

THE  bowhead  whale  spends  his  summers 
among  the  ice-fields  that  surround  the  pole. 
What  he  does  in  winter  is  still  a  mooted 
question,  but  there  are  many  old  whalemen 
who  declare  that  the  bowhead  hibernates. 
Many  of  them,  they  say,  spend  the  winter 
about  Bering  Straits,  and  as  far  south  in 
Bering  Sea  as  the  Seal  Islands.  Here  it  is 
claimed  that  they  lie  on  the  bottom  and  sleep 
till  the  warmer  currents  of  the  spring  rouse 
them,  as  they  do  the  marmots,  badgers,  and 
brown  bears  on  land,  and  at  about  the  same 
time.  At  any  rate,  the  bowhead  goes  north 
with  the  ice  in  the  spring,  comes  down  with 
it  in  the  fall,  —  and  then  vanishes.  He  is  not 
found  in  the  southern  part  of  Bering  Sea, 
nor  in  the  north  Pacific.  Hence,  say  the 
whalemen,  who  make  a  business  of  following 
him,  if  he  does  not  hibernate,  what  does  be 
come  of  him?  Ordinarily,  in  the  summer 
time,  the  bowhead  comes  to  the  surface  and 


196  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

breathes  every  forty  minutes  or  so.  But  now 
and  then,  for  some  cause  or  other,  one  will 
sulk,  and  the  natives  have  watched  them  lying 
close  in  shore  in  shallow  water  for  five  days 
without  seeing  a  movement  or  attempt  to  come 
to  the  surface  to  breathe.  Such  whales  are 
denominated  "  sleepy  heads,"  and  when  killed 
are  found  to  have  a  blubber  that  is  watery 
instead  of  full  of  oil.  The  blubber  of  more 
than  one  whale  is  thrown  overboard  after 
being  cut  in,  because  it  is  deficient  in  oil. 
Whether  there  is  any  connection  between  the 
sleepy  heads  and  the  hibernating  may  never 
be  known,  but  if  a  whale  can  stay  on  bottom 
without  air  for  five  days  simply  because  he  is 
sick  or  sulky,  say  the  whalers,  ought  he  not 
to  be  able  to  sleep  all  winter  in  good  health  ? 
There  is  no  certain  answer  to  the  question. 

At  any  rate,  the  whales  appear  in  the  open 
leads  from  Point  Hope  to  Point  Barrow  about 
the  middle  of  April.  These  are  all  young 
whales  who  seem  to  be  the  early  risers.  After 
them  come  the  cows  and  their  calves,  and  be 
hind  these,  mostly  in  the  open  water,  follow 
the  older  single  whales.  Bachelors  and  old 
maids  these,  and  perhaps  lack  of  responsibili 
ties  makes  them  lazy.  As  these  are  the  last 
up  in  the  spring,  so  they  are  the  first  down  in 


WHALING  IN   EARNEST  197 

the  fall.  Sometimes  they  too  go  in  with  the 
ice,  and  in  that  case  the  whaleships  following 
do  not  get  many.  The  whales  which  the  Es 
kimos  capture  are  almost  always  the  young, 
who  go  up  first,  and  they  capture  them  quite 
easily  from  the  ice.  The  Chukchis  about 
East  Cape  get  from  twenty  to  thirty  thousand 
pounds  of  bone  annually,  and  the  Alaska 
natives  about  as  much.  This  is  bought  in 
the  main  by  traders  or  whalemen,  who  pay  in 
trade  goods  at  the  rate  of  about  fifty  cents  a 
pound  for  the  bone.  As  good  bone  is  worth 
about  three  dollars  a  pound  in  San  Francisco, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  business  is  a  profitable 
one  for  the  buyers.  Yet  the  Eskimos  are  glad 
to  dispose  of  their  surplus  for  the  white  man's 
goods,  and  the  returns  are  of  great  value  to 
them. 

There  used  to  be  in  Bering  Sea  and  the 
Arctic  a  small  black  whale  with  a  white  spot 
near  the  small,  which  was  easily  killed  and 
yielded  good  blubber,  but  was  weak  in  whale 
bone.  These  whales  were  all  killed  off  as  long 
ago  as  1885.  Before  them,  and  now  probably 
extinct,  were  the  old  100-ton  gray  backs,  the 
monster  bowheads  of  all.  These  whales  were 
leviathans  indeed,  yielding  sometimes  four 
hundred  barrels  of  oil,  and  often  three  to 


198  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

four  thousand  pounds  of  whalebone.  These 
were  the  prize  monsters  of  the  early  days  of 
the  bowhead  fishery,  and  the  lucky  ship  that 
got  through  the  straits  and  fastened  to  one 
or  two  of  them  was  well  along  toward  a  full 
trip  at  a  blow.  The  last  record  of  the  cap 
ture  of  one  of  these  whales  was  as  far  back 
as  1876.  They  were  sly,  lazy  old  chaps,  ex 
posing  often  only  the  edges  of  the  gray  spout- 
hole  when  blowing,  and  having  thus  the  ap 
pearance  of  a  gull  sitting  on  the  water.  It 
is  perhaps  plausible  that  these  great-grand 
fathers  of  whales  had  survived  the  glacial 
epoch,  as  is  claimed  for  them.  At  least,  they 
were  of  as  great  age  compared  with  the  smaller 
bowheads  as  are  the  giant  sequoias  of  Cali 
fornia  compared  with  the  redwoods  of  the 
present  day. 

After  the  battle  with  the  highbinders,  the 
community  at  Icy  Cape  saw  no  more  outsid 
ers,  but  as  day  by  day  the  sun  rose  higher 
and  stayed  longer,  they  began  to  await  im 
patiently  the  coming  of  the  spring  and  to 
prepare  for  it.  March  was  a  wild,  uproarious 
month,  intensely  cold  for  the  most  part,  and 
with  fierce  gales  blowing.  The  boys  got  a 
bear  or  two  and  the  Eskimos  brought  in  a 
good  number  of  smaller  pelts,  so  that  the 


»»*•'   V 


i.oi  Kin  IN   i  m:   \u>  rif  i  •••}•: 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  199 

collection  of  furs  grew  steadily  and  bade  fair 
to  be  of  considerable  value.  Joe  used  to  fig 
ure  it  up  every  few  days,  and  when  it  reached 
the  two-thousand-dollar  valuation  mark  he  was 
quite  jubilant. 

"  Now,"  he  said,  "  if  we  can  only  get  a 
good  catch  of  whalebone  while  the  ice  is 
melting  and  get  the  ship  out  safe,  what  happy 
fellows  we .'11  be!" 

The  Eskimos  too  began  to  prepare  for 
whaling  after  their  own  fashion,  and  the  sec 
ond  week  in  April  began  their  ceremony  of 
propitiation.  They  blackened  their  faces  with 
soot  and  streaked  them  with  red.  They 
dressed  in  their  best  clothes,  with  hoods 
fringed  with  wolverine  fur,  giving  their  faces 
thus  a  halo  of  bristling  hair  that  made  them 
look  quite  savage  and  warlike.  Then  they 
took  bits  of  blubber  carefully  saved  from  the 
preceding  year  and  cut  into  little  dice-like 
cubes.  These  they  bore  in  pompous  pro 
cession  to  the  grave  of  Konwa,  and  placed 
them  thereon  with  much  ceremony,  that  his 
spirit  might  be  propitiated.  They  marched 
about  his  grave  as  they  had  at  the  time  of  the 
burial,  then  passed  down  to  the  ice  and  across 
it  to  the  first  open  water.  Here  they  strewed 
the  remaining  bits  of  blubber,  that  the  spirits 


200  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

of  the  ice  might  be  favorable.  Nor  would 
they  consent  that  the  boys,  or  modern  weap 
ons,  should  participate  in  the  taking  of  the 
first  whale.  The  others  might  be  captured 
as  they  pleased,  but  the  first  must  be  taken 
with  all  the  ceremonies  and  in  the  accustomed 
manner  of  their  forefathers,  else  would  not 
prosperity  come  to  their  whale  hunting. 

They  mounted  walrus-tusk  spears,  tipped 
with  slate,  on  long  driftwood  poles.  They 
sledded  their  umiaks  out  to  the  nearest  open 
water,  a  half  mile  or  so  from  shore.  Here 
they  placed  them  ready  for  launching,  and 
built  on  the  windward  side  a  windbreak  of  ice 
and  snow  behind  which  they  found  shelter,  for 
it  was  still  very  cold.  Painted  and  plumed, 
here  they  waited  for  a  week.  One  day  the 
welcome  cry  of  "  Akovuk !  akovuk ! "  (Whale ! 
whale  !)  rang  from  the  watchers,  and  the  spout 
of  a  whale  was  seen  in  the  open  lead.  The 
black  body  rolled  along  carelessly,  heedless 
of  danger,  till  it  was  nearly  opposite  them. 
Then  the  harpooner  took  his  place  in  the  bow 
of  the  umiak  with  two  paddlers  behind  him. 
The  others  launched  the  boat  with  a  rush, 
and  it  slid  of  its  own  momentum  across  the 
space  of  water  till  its  bow  gently  rubbed  the 
whale's  side.  Kroo,  the  harpooner,  stood 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  201 

erect.  With  all  his  strength  he  drove  the 
slate-tipped  and  barbed  harpoon  into  the 
whale's  side,  pushing  desperately  on  the  long 
driftwood  pole.  Then  the  paddlers  backed 
rapidly  away,  while  he  threw  overboard  about 
fifteen  fathoms  of  walrus  line  fastened  to  the 
ivory  harpoon,  and  having  along  its  length 
three  sealskin  pokes  as  floats.  The  wounded 
whale  sounded,  and  tried  to  roll  the  weapon 
out  on  the  bottom,  but  failing  in  this  he  rose 
again  and  began  trying  to  lash  the  thing  from 
him  by  blows  of  his  flukes  at  the  pokes.  By 
this  time  the  other  umiak  was  launched,  and 
another  and  another  string  of  floats  was  made 
fast  to  him  in  a  similar  manner,  till,  buoyed 
up  so  that  he  could  no  longer  dive,  and  ex 
hausted  with  his  battle  with  the  light  pokes, 
he  lay  sullen  and  was  lanced  to  death  by  Kroo, 
Ivith  an  ivory  lance  on  a  driftwood  pole. 
Then  there  was  great  rejoicing  among  the 
villagers.  The  whale  was  hardly  dead  before 
they  began  to  cut  bits  of  the  outer  epider 
mis,  the  blackskin,  from  him  and  to  bolt  it 
raw,  it  being  considered  a  great  delicacy 
among  "  the  people;"  indeed,  many  white  men 
find  its  nutty,  oily  flavor  pleasant. 

Then  they  towed  the  carcass  alongside  the 
ice,  cut  "  jug  handles  "  in  the  heavy  floes,  and 


202  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

reeved  their  walrus-hide  lines  through  these. 
With  this  primitive  purchase  they  hauled  the 
head  up  so  that  one  side  of  the  bone  could 
be  cut  out.  Then  they  rolled  the  whale  and 
cut  out  the  other  side.  Each  native  present 
received  five  slabs  o£  bone.  The  crew  of  the 
boat  making  the  strike  received  ten  slabs  more 
each,  then  the  harpooner  received  the  rest. 
Blubber  and  meat  there  was  enough,  and  more 
than  enough,  for  everybody,  dogs  and  all,  and 
the  event  closed  with  great  feasting.  Thus 
for  the  first  whale ;  but  the  ancient  customs 
having  been  complied  with,  and  the  spirits  of 
the  dead  and  the  ice  having  been  duly  propi 
tiated,  they  turned  quickly  to  modern  weap 
ons,  and  the  boys  had  no  difficulty  in  getting 
them  to  use  the  whaler's  harpoon  and  the  bomb 
gun.  Some  of  them  had  used  these  before,  and 
all  had  seen  the  whalemen  use  them  and  knew 
their  efficiency.  As  the  fishing  progressed,  the 
whole  village,  children  and  all,  turned  out,  and 
the  boys  learned  to  brave  the  cold  and  be  as 
hardy  and  patient  as  they.  With  the  good  sup 
ply  of  bomb  guns  and  lances  and  harpoons  of 
all  kinds  aboard  the  ship,  the  little  army  was 
well  fitted  out,  and  sometimes  they  were  able 
to  kill  a  whale  from  the  ice  with  a  single  shot 
from  a  bomb.  One  whale  came  up  and  died 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  203 

under  the  ice,  but  they  blew  the  floe  up  and 
shattered  it  with  tonite  bombs,  and  got  at  the 
carcass  in  this  fashion.  When  the  weather 
became  too  severe,  they  retreated  to  the  ship, 
and  the  boys  entertained  the  village  there, 
while  the  villagers  in  turn  entertained  the 
boys. 

The  Eskimo  women  were  greatly  interested 
in  the  cooking  methods  and  implements  of 
the  boys  and  learned  their  use  with  surpris 
ing  readiness,  though  there  were  many  laugh 
able  incidents.  They  gave  names  of  their  own 
to  many  things,  which  were  appropriate  and 
interesting.  Beans  they  called  "  komorra," 
from  their  word  "  komuk,"  meaning  little 
grub,  the  larva  of  the  gadfly.  "  Sava  kora," 
chopped  larvae,  was  rice,  and  they  named  bak 
ing  powder  "  pubublown,"  their  word  for 
bubbling.  Soap  the  children  were  inclined 
to  eat,  but  the  older  folks  soon  learned  to  use 
it,  as  well  as  towels. 

Whalemen  are  apt  to  be  fond  of  "  chile 
con  came,"  as  the  Mexicans  call  it,  —  a  red- 
pepper  condiment  for  meat  that  is  wondrous 
strong.  Atchoo  got  hold  of  this  one  day  and 
wondered  long  what  it  was.  Finally  she  gave 
some  to  a  boy  who  was  waiting  about,  boy- 
like,  for  a  chance  to  taste  things.  The  boy 


204  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

helped  himself  liberally,  and  the  contortions 
through  which  he  went  on  getting  the  full 
strength  of  the  pepper  were  near  to  causing 
a  stampede  among  the  women  and  children, 
who  thought  him  possessed  of  an  evil  spirit. 
When  matters  had  quieted  down,  Atchoo  took 
the  balance  of  the  can  of  "  chile  con  carne  " 
and  dug  a  hole  in  the  ice,  burying  it  deeply 
there,  and  saying  over  it  the  words  of  an  Es 
kimo  incantation,  which  is  supposed  to  keep 
the  buried  spirit  of  evil  from  ever  rising  again. 

The  wife  of  Kroo  was  quite  an  old  woman, 
and  she  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  innovations 
in  cooking.  Finally,  however,  she  was  given 
some  rice,  and  persuaded  to  boil  it  for  Kroo's 
dinner.  She  retired  to  the  forecastle,  and 
started  a  fire  in  the  little  stove  there,  that  she 
might  not  be  observed  in  her  work.  Not  long 
afterward  cries  of  alarm  were  heard,  and 
Kroo's  wife  rushed  frantically  from  the  fore 
castle,  crying  that  she  had  the  devil  in  the  pot. 

She  had  filled  the  kettle  far  too  full  of  rice ; 
and  as  it  swelled  and  continued  to  pour  out 
over  the  rim,  she  concluded  that  an  evil  spirit 
was  in  the  white  man's  food,  pushing  it  out 
continually. 

But  the  matter  of  the  explosive  doughnuts 
was  the  most  exciting,  and  indeed  came  near 


WHALING  IN   EARNEST  205 

being  serious,  not  only  in  its  immediate  effects, 
but  in  the  setback  which  it  gave  the  white 
man's  food  in  the  opinion  of  the  Eskimos.  Joe, 
who  was  the  cook  for  the  boys,  had  frequently 
made  doughnuts  and  fried  them  in  oil  for 
the  delectation  of  the  community,  the  natives 
having  a  great  fondness  for  them.  Then  he 
taught  Atchoo  how  to  mix  them  up,  and  she 
seemed  to  learn  very  rapidly.  One  day,  how 
ever,  she  undertook  to  make  them  without 
supervision,  and  used  water  from  melted  ice 
which  had  chunks  of  ice  still  in  it.  These 
chunks  she  incorporated  in  the  doughnuts,  no 
doubt  thinking,  Eskimo  fashion,  that  it  was 
just  as  good  that  way.  The  doughnuts  fried, 
but  the  chunks  of  ice  turned  to  steam  within, 
and  about  the  time  Atchoo  was  forking  the 
doughnuts  out  into  a  pan  they  began  to  blow 
up,  scattering  oil  and  the  wildest  consternation 
among  those  waiting  for  the  feast. 

The  first  one  popped  on  the  fork  as  Atchoo 
was  handing  it  to  Harluk,  that  he  first  might 
see  how  good  a  cook  she  was.  The  largest 
chunk  of  it  landed  square  in  Harluk's  eye, 
causing  him  to  dance  with  astonishment  and 
alarm. 

"  Hold  on !  "  he  cried.  "  No  want  to  see 
him  ;  want  to  eat  him." 


206  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Others  blew  up  in  the  kettle,  scattering  hot 
oil,  and  sending  the  crowd  in  a  wild  plunge 
for  the  doorway.  Out  they  scrambled,  Harluk 
well  in  advance,  as  he  had  had  the  first  warn-' 
ing.  He  plunged  head  first  from  the  outer 
end  of  the  entrance  and  butted  Joe,  who  was 
about  to  enter,  into  a  sitting  position  on  the 
snow. 

"  Huh ! "  said  Joe,  partly  because  that  is 
what  one  usually  says  when  suddenly  butted 
in  the  stomach,  but  partly  in  surprise  at  this 
exodus  from  the  galley.  "  What  is  the  mat 
ter?"  he  asked,  as  soon  as  he  could  get  breath. 

The  answer  came  from  Pikalye,  who  was 
fat,  and  who  scrambled  out  on  his  knees  and 
one  hand,  holding  a  hot  wad  of  half-fried 
doughnut  to  the  back  of  his  neck  with  the 
other.  Finding  himself  outside,  he  ducked 
until  his  head  was  well  under  one  arm  and  he 
could  lay  his  burnt  neck  gently  in  the  snow. 
From  this  contortionist's  position  he  looked 
up  solemnly  sidewise  at  Joe. 

"  White  man's  grub  too  much  shoot,"  he 
said. 

The  appearance  of  this  fat  Eskimo,  tied  in 
such  an  absurd  knot  to  keep  the  back  of  his 
neck  cool,  was  too  much  for  Joe,  who  went  off 
into  howls  of  laughter,  which  were  answered 


WHALING   IN   EARNEST  207 

by  cries  from  within.  Hurrying  thither,  Joe 
saw  the  fat  on  fire  on  the  stove,  the  feet  of 
Atchoo  and  her  older  child  protruding  from 
beneath  his  lower  bunk,  while  in  the  upper 
one  lay  Harry  in  a  worse  gale  of  laughter  than 
he.  Joe  put  out  the  burning  fat,  prodded 
Atchoo  and  her  youngster  from  beneath  his 
bunk,  and  by  the  time  he  had  found  out  who 
was  burned  and  how  much,  and  attended  to 
them  by  binding  the  wounds  with  moist  cook 
ing  soda,  he  and  Harry  had  sobered  down  a 
bit  and  learned  the  cause  of  the  disaster. 

It  was  a  good  while  before  the  Eskimos 
were  willing  to  come  into  the  galley  again, 
and  Joe  profited  by  it  by  having  them  set  up 
housekeeping  in  the  forecastle  while  aboard 
ship.  They  did  no  more  white  man's  cooking 
for  some  time,  and  doughnuts  were  especially 
avoided,  but  they  were  so  fond  of  them  that 
Harluk  finally  induced  Atchoo  to  try  her  luck 
again.  That  day  Harry  beckoned  Joe  to  look 
in  on  the  forecastle.  There  was  Atchoo  fry 
ing  doughnuts,  indeed,  but  she  put  them  into 
the  fat,  turned  them,  and  took  them  out  on 
the  tip  end  of  Harluk's  favorite  seal  spear, 
which  was  at  least  six  feet  long. 

With  the  exception  of  using  modern  har 
poons  and  killing  their  whales  directly,  when 


208  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

possible,  with  the  bomb  gun,  the  boys  and 
their  assistants  followed  Eskimo  methods  with 
great  success.  The  whales  are  particularly 
unsuspicious  when  in  the  ice,  and  the  killing 
of  them  was  usually  attended  with  little  ex 
citement  or  danger.  They  did  not  attempt 
to  do  anything  with  the  blubber,  as  the  dis 
tance  they  would  have  to  haul  it  from  the 
open  leads  to  the  ship  was  too  great.  The 
bone  of  these  smaller  whales  was  not  so  good 
either  as  that  of  those  which  come  kter  in 
the  open  water,  but  it  was  nevertheless  of 
much  value,  and  footed  up  a  thousand  pounds 
or  so  to  each  catch.  Thus  the  value  of  the 
stores  aboard  ship  increased  quite  rapidly,  and 
by  the  first  of  June  half  a  dozen  whales  had 
added  twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  dollars'  worth 
of  bone  to  the  credit  of  the  adventurers. 
They  had  paid  the  Eskimos  a  satisfactory 
amount  of  trade  goods  for  their  share,  as  well 
as  the  meat  and  blubber,  and  the  little  com 
munity  was  quite  literally  rolling  in  Eskimo 
wealth.  Joe  was  afraid  that  prosperity  would 
give  them  ideas  above  work,  as  it  does  some 
other  more  civilized  people,  but  it  did  not 
seem  to.  They  did  not  work  for  the  returns 
alone,  but  out  of  loyalty  and  admiration  for 
their  white  friends. 


WHALING  IN   EARNEST  209 

The  sun  now  skimmed  the  northern  horizon 
without  setting,  and  daylight  was  once  more 
continuous.  Gulls,  terns,  and  ducks  in  clouds 
came  along  the  edge  of  the  ice,  working 
northward,  and  the  weather  was  warm  and 
springlike.  To  the  first  gull  seen  the  Eskimos 
sang  a  greeting.  Just  as  young  people  the 
world  over  apostrophize  the  first  star  they 
see  at  night,  and  wish  on  it  in  the  more  or 
less  firm  belief  that  their  wish  will  be  granted, 
so  the  Eskimos  sang  a  greeting  to  this  first 
gull:- 

"  Now  yakaro.  now  yakaro, 
Too  loo  kotaro." 

"  Gull,  gull,  bring  me  good  luck." 

On  warm  days  the  snow  melted  with  great 
rapidity  under  this  continuous  sunshine,  and 
the  brown  tundra  soon  began  to  show  between 
the  drifts.  Yet  the  ice  held  firm,  except  that 
narrow  leads  opened  here  and  there,  and  there 
was  no  hope  that  the  ship  would  be  able  to 
get  off  for  more  than  a  month,  in  fact  nearly 
two,  and  it  would  be  that  time  also  before  any 
ships  could  come  in  from  below. 

In  this  ice  whaling  the  entire  Eskimo  com 
munity  had  participated,  yet  such  is  the  famil 
iarity  of  the  Eskimo  with  the  world  of  ice 
that  no  serious  accident  had  happened  to  any 


210  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

one  of  them.  It  was  not  that  conditions 
were  not  often  dangerous  as  well  as  uncom 
fortable,  but  that  the  native  instinct  seemed 
always  to  find  a  way  out  of  difficulty.  Pi- 
kalye's  two  daughters,  fine,  strong  young  girls, 
were  out  on  the  ice  one  day  many  miles  from 
land,  with  a  team  of  four  dogs  and  a  sled, 
bringing  in  blubber  from  a  whale  that  had 
been  killed  out  there.  A  sudden  violent  snow 
storm  came  up,  and  they  were  in  great  dan 
ger  of  being  driven  out  into  the  pack  and 
frozen  to  death.  They  lost  the  direction  and 
were  obliged  to  abandon  the  sled,  but  each 
girl  fastened  two  of  the  dogs  by  their  traces 
to  her  own  girdle  and  let  them  go  as  they 
pleased.  The  result  was,  that  the  homing  in 
stinct  of  the  dogs  brought  them  safe  to  land, 
after  many  hours  in  the  blizzard.  They  made 
the  traces  fast  to  their  girdles  that  the  dogs 
might  not  break  away  and  escape  in  case  they 
fell  on  the  rough  ice  and  were  obliged  to  let 
go  their  grip  on  the  lashings. 

The  natives  gave  Harry  the  nickname  of 
"  the  whale  walker,"  because  one  day  he  was 
on  an  ice  cake  near  the  open  lead  with  a 
bomb  gun,  watching  out  for  a  whale  that  had 
been  seen  heading  up  the  lead.  The  whale 
came  up  just  beside  him,  and  before  he  could 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  211 

fire,  rolled  against  the  cake  and  capsized  it. 
Harry  sprang  for  the  only  available  dry  spot, 
the  whale's  back  near  his  tail,  and  running 
hastily  from  that  dangerous  weapon  up  along 
the  black  length,  sprang  from  his  head  to  an 
other  cake  of  ice,  reaching  it  before  the  lazy 
leviathan  had  made  up  his  mind  that  any 
thing  out  of  the  common  was  happening. 
Then  he  turned  and  discharged  the  gun  into 
the  whale's  neck,  breaking  it  at  one  shot. 
This  whale  was  a  particularly  large  one,  with 
a  tremendous  spread  of  flukes,  and  Pickalye 
was  so  impressed  with  this  that  he  ran  toward 
the  other  villagers  shouting,  — 

"  Come  and  see  !  Come  and  see  !  Our 
brother  who  walks  on  whales  has  killed  the 
one  with  the  biggest  feet  in  the  ocean." 

After  the  ice  whaling  was  practically  over 
the  village  held  a  feast,  a  sort  of  thanksgiv 
ing,  at  which  each  man  who  had  struck  a 
whale  gave  to  everybody  else  as  many  dinner 
parties  as  he  had  killed  whales.  Each  of 
these  was  followed  by  games,  in  which  the 
chief  was  blanket  tossing.  A  large  walrus 
hide  was  suspended  horizontally  three  feet 
high  by  ropes,  which  ran  to  springy  but  stout 
poles  of  driftwood,  thirty  feet  away.  These 
gave  additional  spring  to  the  walrus-hide  blan- 


212  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

ket,  around  which  stood  a  dozen  adults  lifting 
on  the  edges.  All  the  people  came  in  their 
best  clothes,  and  the  prominent  whale  catchers 
had  a  smear  of  black  on  the  left  cheek  as 
large  as  one's  finger.  This  was  a  special  mark 
of  distinction.  The  ancient  wife  of  Kroo,  the 
head  man,  was  the  first  to  be  honored,  and 
she  climbed  into  the  centre  of  the  blanket  with 
surprising  agility.  Beginning,  she  gave  a  leap 
in  the  air,  then  as  she  came  down,  the  spring 
of  the  walrus-hide  ropes  on  the  driftwood 
poles,  supplemented  by  two  dozen  lusty  arms, 
sent  her  high  in  the  air  again.  Up  and  down 
she  went,  kicking  and  waving  her  arms  amid 
cries  of  exultation  and  pleasure,  and  ceased 
only  with  utter  exhaustion.  Half  a  dozen 
girls  rushed  for  her  place,  but  all  gave  way  to 
the  most  agile,  who  first  reached  the  centre  of 
the  hide.  Thus  the  sport  went  on,  each  fol 
lowing  in  turn,  until  all  who  wished  had  been 
tossed. 

Pickalye,  fat  and  simple-minded,  was  one 
of  the  experts  at  this  game.  He  would  take 
a  sealskin  poke  and  use  it  like  a  skipping-rope 
in  the  air,  and  the  great  sport  of  the  contest 
came  in  the  sidewise  yanks  which  the  crowd 
gave  the  hide  as  he  leaped,  in  an  attempt 
to  upset  him.  This  was  often  successful,  and 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  213 

•when  he  came  down  on  some  one's  head, 
wrong  side  up,  as  he  generally  did  before  the 
game  was  over,  there  was  great  laughter. 

They  danced  by  the  light  of  the  midnight 
sun  to  the  music  of  tom-toms,  the  musicians 
being  sheltered  from  the  cold  wind  by  an 
umiak  turned  on  its  side.  They  had  wrestling 
matches,  in  which  the  winner  had  to  hold  the 
ring  until  beaten  or  exhausted,  all  remain 
ing  as  long  as  they  had  breath  or  strength. 
The  feast  finally  ended  in  a  grand  football 
game  on  the  sea  ice,  at  the  close  of  which  the 
best-dressed  player  on  each  side  was  ducked  in 
a  water-hole. 

The  delicacies  at  these  feasts  were  whales' 
flukes  and  blackskin.  The  blackskin,  the 
outer  epidermis  of  the  whale,  is  best  liked 
when  frozen,  and  then  has  a  flavor  something 
like  that  of  inuskmelon.  The  melting  of  the 
snows  had  made  the  winter  igloos  uninhabita 
ble,  and  they  were  now  living  in  their  summer 
topeks,  —  cotton  tents  bought  of  the  whale 
men  and  traders.  There  was  much  open  water 
in  the  sea,  and  southerly  winds  were  beginning 
to  crowd  the  main  polar  pack  ice  back  toward 
the  north.  The  ice  within  the  arm  of  the 
headland  where  the  ship  lay  was  beginning  to 
show  many  signs  of  weakening,  and  the  boys 


2U  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

began  to  look  forward  anxiously  to  the  time 
when  they  should  get  up  steam  on  the  en 
gines  and  try  to  push  southward.  They  de 
cided  it  was  not  wise  to  do  this  until  the  way 
was  fully  clear,  and  meanwhile  they  kept  good 
lookout  for  a  final  whale.  They  were  quite 
proud  of  their  work  during  the  winter  and 
spring,  as  well  they  might  be :  six  heads  of 
bone  were  worth  at  the  lowest  estimate  twelve 
thousand  dollars  ;  there  were  furs,  principally 
white  bearskins,  to  the  value  of  two  thou 
sand  dollars,  reckoning  very  conservatively; 
and  a  few  dollars'  worth  of  walrus  ivory  com 
pleted  the  list.  They  had  used  a  small  pro 
portion  of  the  stores  and  a  reasonable  amount 
of  the  trade  goods  left  behind.  They  felt 
that  it  was  a  pretty  good  showing  for  two 
boys.  Moreover,  Harry  had  a  monograph  on 
the  habits  of  the  bowhead  whale,  gleaned 
from  his  own  experience  and  the  knowledge 
of  the  Eskimos,  which  he  felt  ought  to  add 
value  to  his  report  to  Mr.  Adams.  How  far 
away  that  other  world  which  he  had  left  only  a 
year  before  seemed !  His  father  and  mother 
—  and  Maisie  ;  had  they  given  him  up  for 
lost  ?  A  great  longing  for  home  and  friends 
and  civilization  came  over  Harry  with  these 
thoughts,  —  that  homesick  longing  which  is 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  215 

like  death  itself,  and  which  sometimes  kills 
when  he  whom  it  attacks  cannot  find  relief  in 
action,  cannot  take  some  step,  however  slight, 
in  the  wished-for  direction.  He  went  to  Joe 
with  tears  in  his  eyes. 

"  For  God's  sake,  Joe,"  he  cried,  "  let  us 
get  out  of  this.  I  want  my  home  and  my 
father  and  mother  so  that  I  can't  think  nor 
sit  still.  Can't  we  start  up  the  engines  and 
push  out  of  this  rotten  ice  ?  Once  in  the  leads 
we  could  work  south." 

Beyond  a  doubt  homesickness  is  infectious. 
He  had  no  sooner  spoken  than  Joe  began  to 
show  symptoms  of  the  malady. 

"  Home  ?  "  he  said.  "  Of  course  we  're  go 
ing  home.  We  '11  clear  away  this  snow  and 
ice  from  the  deck  and  get  ready  for  a  start  as 
soon  as  we  can.  A  little  more  thaw  would  let 
us  out." 

They  called  the  Eskimos  to  their  aid,  and 
began  to  work  with  feverish  haste.  The  ice 
igloo,  which  had  been  their  protection  for  so 
long,  but  which  was  now  no  longer  needed, 
was  chopped  apart  and  thrown  overboard. 
They  took  soundings  alongside,  and  found  the 
ship  still  aground,  but  thought  perhaps  that 
under  a  full  head  of  steam  they  could  work 
her  off.  They  sounded  the  wells  and  found 


216  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

she  did  not  leak.  They  went  over  the  ma 
chinery  carefully  and  made  sure  that  it  was 
all  ready  for  use,  so  far  as  they  could  tell 
from  their  studies  of  the  previous  winter. 
The  thought  of  really  moving  toward  home 
filled  them  with  a  wild  exhilaration,  and  they 
hardly  ate  or  slept  for  three  days. 

In  the  midst  of  all  this  fever  of  preparation 
Pickalye,  fat  and  foolish,  came  aboard  and 
told  them  that  they  must  wait.  There  was  a 
great  storm  coming;  his  bear  bite  had  told 
him  so.  They  must  not  try  to  move  before  it 
had  passed,  else  they  would  meet  trouble.  A 
bear  had  bitten  him  badly  in  the  leg  three 
years  before.  Since  then,  whenever  there  was 
a  big  storm  coming,  the  spirit  of  the  bear  came 
and  bit  his  leg  again.  It  was  biting  it  now. 
Therefore  this  was  a  warning,  and  he  would 
like  something  from  a  bottle  to  rub  his  leg 
with. 

Joe  furnished  the  liniment,  and  the  work 
went  on.  Nevertheless,  two  hours  afterward 
the  wind  blew  up  suddenly  from  the  south, 
and  increased  in  violence  rapidly,  bringing 
snow  with  it.  The  Eskimos  went  ashore,  nor 
could  they  be  prevailed  upon  to  remain  aboard 
ship.  Their  belief  in  the  power  of  prophecy 
of  Pickalye's  bear-bitten  leg  was  strong,  and 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  217 

they  were  familiar  with  these  swift,  terrible 
spring  storms.  At  midnight,  though  the  sun 
was  well  above  the  horizon,  the  clouds  were 
so  thick  that  it  became  quite  dark.  The  boys 
felt  the  shoreward  ice  pressing  against  the 
side  of  the  ship.  The  vessel  quivered  and 
tuffffed.  at  her  anchor  chain.  The  ice  was 

oo 

going  out.  They  looked  over  the  side  and, 
to  their  astonishment,  found  that  it  seemed  to 
be  dropping  on  the  ship's  side.  That  is,  she 
stood  up  higher  out  of  the  ice  than  she  had 
before.  Joe  pointed  this  out  to  Harry ;  and 
when  they  were  back  in  the  galley,  where 
they  could  hear  each  other,  he  told  what  he 
thought  the  reason  for  it. 

"  The  gale,"  he  said,  "  is  pushing  the  ice 
northward  so  fast  that  it  is  making  low  tide 
on  the  shore.  I  think  the  Bowhead  is  sliding 
along  the  bottom,  dragging  her  anchor,  pushed 
by  the  ice." 

They  coidd  distinctly  feel  the  shouldering 
crush  of  the  ice  and  the  scraping  as  the  vessel 
slid  along.  With  much  labor  and  difficulty 
they  put  the  other  anchor  overboard  and  let 
go  a  good  length  of  chain  cable.  Neverthe 
less,  they  drifted  outward  for  some  hours, 
slowly  but  surely.  Then  there  came  a  lull 
in  the  gale.  It  became  light  again,  and  the 


218  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

wind  went  down  rapidly.  The  sun  struggled 
through  the  clouds  that  still  flew  overhead, 
and  showed  them  that,  to  their  astonishment, 
they  had  drifted  and  dragged  the  two  anchors 
out  well  by  the  headland.  To  the  northward 
they  could  see  in  occasional  flashes  of  sunlight 
the  surf  leaping  high  on  the  main  Arctic 
pack,  driven  back  on  itself,  miles  out.  They 
were  dangerously  near  the  headland,  but  the 
wind  was  offshore,  and  a  heavy  floe  lay  be 
tween  them  and  it,  apparently  grounded  firmly 
at  the  shore  end.  The  ship  swung  free  in 
water  deep  enough  to  float  her,  and  the  open 
lead  showed  as  far  to  the  southward  as  the 
eye  could  see.  Joe  shouted  with  exultation, 
and  Harry  fairly  danced  for  joy. 

"  Hurrah  !  "  he  shouted.  "  We  can  steam 
south  as  soon  as  we  can  get  the  fires  up.  Set 
a  signal  for  the  Eskimos  to  come  out  and  help 
us.  Then  let 's  get  below  and  fire  up." 

The  signal  was  set,  and  ten  minutes  later 
both  boys  were  busy  below  putting  a  fire 
under  the  boiler  and  getting  everything  in 
readiness  for  departure.  It  was  unaccustomed 
work,  and  though  they  had  often  planned  it 
together,  there  were  many  things  over  which 
they  hesitated  and  were  a  little  in  doubt. 
Thus  the  time  passed  rapidly,  and  though  a 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  219 

black  smoke  now  poured  from  the  Bowhead's 
funnel,  there  was  little  steam  on.  Two  hours 
the  boys  were  below  before  they  realized  it, 
and  Joe  finally  said  with  some  uneasiness,  — 

"  Wonder  why  those  fellows  don't  come 
aboard?" 

"  Don't  know,"  said  Harry.  "  You  watch 
that  steam  gauge  and  I  '11  go  on  deck  and 
see  if  they  are  coming.  Is  that  their  boat 
alongside?" 

Something  bumped  and  grated  along  the 
Bowhead's  side.  Harry  started  for  the  deck. 
Then  something  struck  the  ship  again,  this 
time  hard  enough  to  jar  it  from  stem  to  stern. 
Joe  followed  Harry  up  the  ladder.  As  they 
reached  the  deck  the  most  astonishing  change 
met  their  eyes.  The  treacherous  Arctic  gale 
had  veered  to  the  north  and  was  blowing 
again  with  unexampled  fury.  Where  had 
been  open  water  for  miles  the  Arctic  pack  was 
now  crowding  down  upon  them.  The  first 
scouts  of  ice  were  already  bumping  their  sides, 
and  the  roar  of  the  wind  through  the  rigging 
seemed  like  hoarse  shouts  of  derision  at  the 
thought  that  a  ship  might  escape  its  fury. 
They  had  swung  up  alongside  the  shore  pack, 
which  stood  firm,  and  already  the  seaward  ice 
was  crushing  against  them.  Working  in  the 


220  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

depths  of  the  fire-room,  they  had  sensed  no 
thing  of  this  change,  and  now  the  realization 
of  it  came  upon  them  with  stunning  force. 

Joe  was  the  first  to  rouse  from  his  stupe 
faction.  "  Go  forward/'  he  said,  "  into  the 
chain  locker.  Knock  the  shackling .  pins  out 
of  both  those  cables  and  let  them  run  over 
board.  Then  come  down  into  the  engine-room 
with  me." 

Harry  did  as  he  was  bidden  in  a  sort  of 
dream,  the  plunge  from  bright  hope  to  chill 
fear  was  so  great.  In  the  engine-room  he 
found  Joe,  sweating. 

"  We  can't  do  it,"  he  cried.  "  If  the  Es 
kimos  had  only  come  to  us,  we  would  have 
been  all  right ;  but  two  of  us  cannot  fire,  and 
run  the  engine,  and  steer  ship,  all  at  the  same 
time,  even  if  we  could  get  out  of  the  grip  of 
the  ice.  I  'm  afraid  we  're  done  for." 

Even  as  he  spoke  the  ship  staggered.  The 
ice  had  crashed  against  her  with  such  force  that 
both  boys  were  thrown  from  their  feet.  Joe 
stopped  the  engines,  which  had  been  turning 
slowly. 

"  I  'm  afraid  we  're  done  for,"  he  repeated, 
and  took  his  way  to  the  deck,  followed  by 
Harry.  The  scene  that  met  them  there  was 
one  never  to  be  forgotten.  No  man  may 


WHALING  IN   EARNEST  221 

stand  in  the  forefront  of  the  onrush  of  the 
Arctic  pack  and  forget  it.  Cakes  of  ice  leaped 
like  wolves  on  its  forward  edge.  Behind  them 
crushed  the  solid  phalanx  of  the  sea,  white, 
resistless,  terrible.  The  wolf  cakes  sprang  at 
the  ship,  and  bit  at  it.  They  leaped  upon  the 
solid  shore  floe,  and  climbed  one  another's 
shoulders  there,  and  always  just  behind  them 
came  the  forward  impulse  of  that  great  white 
sea  of  ice.  The  touch  of  this  main  pack 
crumpled  the  shore  floe.  It  crushed  the  Bow- 
head's  staunch  sides  as  if  they  had  been  egg 
shells.  The  decks  burst  from  beneath  with 
the  pressure,  the  tall  masts  toppled  and  fell, 
and  the  wreck,  crushing  and  grinding  into 
the  shore  ice,  became  but  a  formless  part  of 
the  ridge  that  the  pack  pushed  up  in  front  of 
it  as  it  moved  majestically  shoreward.  Might 
ily,  foot  by  foot,  it  moved.  Ice  cakes  burst 
with  the  roar  of  artillery,  snapped  like  rifles, 
and  the  rumble  of  floe  on  floe  was  like  the 
onrushing  hoof-beats  of  a  million  cavalry. 
The  cohorts  of  the  ever-victorious  Frost  King 
were  in  full  charge.  Higher  and  higher  piled 
this  ridge  of  onslaught,  nearer  and  nearer  the 
shore  it  pushed,  and  the  once  staunch  ship 
was  rolled  and  pounded  to  chaff  under  the 
hoof-beats  of  its  white  horses. 


222  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Out  of  the  white  turmoil  of  death  and  terror 
it  is  hard  to  tell  how  the  two  boys  escaped. 
Certainly  neither  of  them  knew.  There  was 
a  confused  recollection  of  planks  bursting 
beneath  their  feet,  of  spars  that,  falling,  mer 
cifully  spared  them,  of  leaping  and  scrambling 
from  toppling  cakes  to  unsteady,  crumbling 
ridges,  of  the  howling  of  winds  in  their  ears, 
and  the  sting  of  brine  on  their  faces.  Then 
they  were  being  pulled  and  hauled  and  hustled 
across  the  heaving  shore  floe  by  Kroo  and 
Harluk  and  others,  who  had  rushed  to  their 
rescue  and  endangered  their  own  lives  to  help 
their  friends.  Panting,  exhausted,  both  in 
body  and  nerves,  they  lay  in  the  little  tents 
and  listened  to  the  howl  of  the  gale. 

They  were  safe ;  but  the  ship  and  its  con 
tents,  their  furs,  their  whalebone,  and  all  their 
dear  and  valuable  possessions,  were  being 
rolled  and  hammered  in  the  mass  of  broken 
ice  that  the  great  Arctic  pack  was  still  crush 
ing  and  piling  shoreward. 

Yet  they  did  not  give  way  to  grief  or  re 
pining.  Nothing  could  show  the  manly  spirit 
and  self-reliance  which  their  lonely  life  had 
bred  in  them  more  than  this.  They  were 
calm,  even  serene,  thankful  for  their  lives, 
and  confident  that,  having  been  spared  those, 


WHALING  IN  EARNEST  223 

they  would  yet  be  able  to  win  their  way  back 
to  civilization  with  honor,  if  not  with  fortune. 
It  cured  their  homesickness,  too.  Nothing 
is  so  good  for  this  as  a  batch  of  real  and  pre 
sent  trouble  and  physical  discomfort.  Phy 
sical  weariness,  a  moderate  amount  of  hunger, 
and  something  with  which  to  battle,  along 
with  a  feeling  that  you  can  overcome  it,  will 
make  any  real  man  satisfied  with  his  lot.  I 
know  this  sounds  like  a  paradox ;  but  just  try 
it,  as  Harry  and  Joe  did. 


CHAPTER  IX 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  POWER 


THERE  are  no  tides  on  the  Arctic  coast  as  we 
of  the  temperate  zones  know  tides.  In  calm 
weather  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  sea  is  scarcely 
noticeable.  In  time  of  southerly  storm,  how 
ever,  the  wind  and  ice  carry  the  water  out 
across  the  shallow  sea,  and  when  the  winds 
rage  from  the  north  they  crowd  it  back  again 
upon  the  land.  Hence,  with  the  rush  of  the 
ice  pack  to  the  shore  there  came  a  small  tidal 
wave,  with  the  result  that  the  pack  and  the 
shore  ice,  crowded  and  crumpled  together, 
were  carried  far  up  on  the  land.  With  the 
subsiding  of  the  gale  two  days  later,  the  re 
ceding  waters  left  this  great  ridge  piled  there 
thirty  to  fifty  feet  high,  a  monument  to  the 
brave  ship  that  it  had  wrecked,  and  to  the 
power  of  the  primeval  Arctic  forces.  Scat 
tered  through  this  rough  ridge  were  the  rem 
nants  of  the  wreck.  Here  a  mast  protruded, 
there  a  shattered  plank  of  the  hull,  but  to 
find  anything  of  use  to  the  wrecked  Crusoes 


IN   THE  ENEMY'S   POWER  225 

was  difficult.  When  the  ice  melted,  as  it 
would  in  part  during  the  brief  summer,  more 
might  be  revealed,  but  for  now  they  were  de 
pendent  on  the  hospitality  of  their  Eskimo 
friends. 

Right  royally  was  this  hospitality  exercised. 
The  boys  had  reached  shore  with  only  the 
clothes  on  their  backs,  but,  thanks  to  the 
trade  supplies  which  they  had  earned  in  their 
whaling,  the  Eskimos  were  rich  beyond  the 
dreams  of  Eskimo  avarice.  They  had  food 
supplies  of  all  sorts,  clothing,  blankets,  and 
calico  in  plenty,  rifles,  shotguns,  ammunition, 
cooking  utensils.  Out  of  all  these  they  out 
fitted  the  boys,  even  giving  them  an  extra 
tent  of  their  own  in  which  they  might  set 
up  their  own  housekeeping.  To  be  sure  the 
disaster  was  a  bonanza  in  a  way  to  the  men 
of  the  ice.  The  broken  timbers  and  spars 
of  the  staunch  vessel  would  furnish  fuel  and 
wood  for  them  for  a  long  time  to  come,  any 
iron  which  they  might  find  as  the  ice  melted 
would  be  eagerly  seized  upon,  and  they  might 
even  hope,  as  the  summer  proceeded,  to  get 
much  in  the  way  of  food  supplies.  Yet  their 
hospitality  was  in  no  wise  tinged  by  this. 
The  custom  of  sharing  prosperity  with  all  has 
come  down  to  the  tribes  from  time  immemo- 


226  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

rial,  and  is  never  questioned  except  by  the  out 
law  "  highbinders."  The  boys,  aided  by  their 
dusky  friends,  searched  long  and  diligently, 
and  were  finally  rewarded  by  finding  a  portion 
of  the  galley.  This  was  buried  in  the  top 
of  the  ridge  half  a  mile  from  where  the  disas 
ter  had  occurred  and  a  mile  from  the  place 
where  other  portions  of  the  ship,  the  spars 
and  one  mast,  protruded.  Such  is  the  rend 
ing  and  disintegrating  force  of  the  floes  grind 
ing  one  on  another. 

In  this  portion  of  the  galley  they  found 
the  chest  which  contained  the  ship's  log  and 
other  papers,  including  Harry's  report  of  the 
conditions  of  the  whaling,  some  extra  paper, 
and  his  entire  camera  outfit.  There  also  was 
Joe's  journal  of  the  events  of  the  trip  to  date. 
They  were  overjoyed  at  this,  but  search  as 
they  would,  nothing  further  of  value  turned 
up.  The  hull  below  decks  seemed  to  have 
been  carried  down  in  the  crush  and  sunk  ;  at 
any  rate,  they  never  saw  it  more.  Two  busy 
weeks  passed  thus,  and  they  were  not  alto 
gether  unhappy.  They  had  seemingly  lost 
all  chance  of  returning  with  wealth,  but  their 
lives  were  spared  and  the  summer  was  at  hand, 
when  ships  would  surely  appear  and  rescue 
them.  They  talked  this  matter  over  together 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  POWER  227 

and  with  Harluk  and  Kroo.  The  ships,  said 
Harluk  wisely,  would  be  late  in  that  sum 
mer,  if  they  came  at  all.  He  knew  this,  be 
cause  each  storm  had  ended  in  a  wind  from 
the  north  which  brought  the  pack  in.  He 
had  noticed  that  when  the  storms  began  this 

o 

way,  they  kept  it  up  through  the  summer. 
The  main  pack  was  very  heavy,  and  was 
crowded  up  against  the  shore  now.  It  might 
not  move  for  weeks.  If  there  did  come  a 
southerly  blow  and  carry  it  off  for  a  day  or 
two,  the  wind  would  end  up  in  the  north  and 
bring  it  back.  The  boys  had  seen. 

Harluk  indicated  the  mighty  ridge  of  ice 
alongshore  with  a  sweep  of  the  hand,  and 
Kroo  nodded  confirmation  of  this.  The  boys 
looked  at  each  other. 

"  Then,"  said  Harry,  "  if  the  ships  cannot 
come  to  us,  we  shall  have  to  go  to  the  ships. 
They  will  surely  be  at  Point  Hope,  and  if  we 
go  there  we  shall  meet  them." 

"  Of  course  they  will,"  agreed  Joe.  "  Father 
will  be  up  here  on  a  ship  of  some  sort.  He 
will  be  anxious  to  see  if  there  is  possible  news 
of  us.  He  is  a  whaler,  and  he  will  not  go 
out  of  the  business  just  because  one  ship  is 
lost.  We  will  go  to  Point  Hope.  How  long 
will  it  take,  Kroo  ?  " 


228  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Kroo  meditated.  "  When  the  ice  is  gone," 
he  said,  "  s'pose  take  umiak.  Not  blow  too 
much,  you  catch  Point  Hope  in  twenty 
sleeps.  S'pose  blow  a  good  deal,  no  can  tell." 

"  But  if  the  ice  stays,  we  will  have  to  go 
overland,"  replied  Joe.  "  How  long  will  that 
take  with  a  good  dog  team  ?  " 

Kroo's  answer  to  this  was  "  Ticharro  pe- 
juk  ?  "  which  is  a  sort  of  Eskimo  "  How  do 
I  know  ? "  There  was  some  snow  left  in 
places,  and  they  might  follow  the  coast  on 
the  ice  for  a  good  way.  At  Cape  Beaufort 
they  would  have  to  make  a  turn  inland,  as  no 
one  could  pass  Lisburne  heights  on  the  coast. 
There  were  mountains  and  there  would  be 
much  soft  tundra.  It  was  a  good  deal  of  an 
undertaking.  He  could  not  tell.  It  was  bet 
ter  to  stay  till  the  sea  opened. 

Thus  reasoned  Kroo  and  Harluk,  and  the 
others  gave  assent  to  this,  but  the  boys  were 
not  to  be  moved.  There  was  nothing  for  them 
to  stay  for  now,  and  they  were  determined  to 
go,  even  if  the  trip  was  to  be  a  hard  one.  The 
Eskimos  said  little  more.  They  knew  if  the 
boys  had  decided  to  go,  go  they  would,  and  in 
their  own  way.  A  team  of  three  dogs  was 
picked,  the  best  in  the  village,  their  goods 
were  packed  on  the  sled,  —  food  enough  to 


IN  THE   ENEMY'S  POWER  229 

last  for  weeks,  rifles  and  ammunition,  blan 
kets,  and  their  little  tent. 

The  parting  was  hard.  The  two  boys  had 
not  realized  before  how  much  attached  they 
were  to  these  brave,  gentle,  kindly  friends ; 
and  as  for  the  Eskimos,  they  were  like  chil 
dren  about  to  be  deprived  of  their  parents. 
The  village  wept,  and  at  the  last  moment 
Harluk  declared  that  he  would  not  let  his 
brothers  go  alone.  He  would  travel  with 
them  to  Point  Hope,  guide  them  on  their  jour 
ney,  and  then  come  back  to  his  wife  and 
children.  Atchoo  embraced  him  and  bade 
him  go,  and  Kroo  came  gravely  forward  to 
Harry  and  made  him  an  address  in  Eskimo 
that  was  quite  flowery,  and  the  purport  of 
which  was  that  he  wished  Harry  to  become 
his  brother,  to  which  Harry  cheerfully  as 
sented,  assuring  him  that  he  was  the  brother 
of  them  all,  and  wrung  his  hand,  thinking 
the  matter  was  to  end  there. 

Not  so.  Kroo  took  from  his  poke  his  an 
cient  ivory  pipe,  carved  from  a  walrus  tusk 
to  represent  the  body  and  flukes  of  a  whale, 
its  stem  cunningly  fashioned  of  whalebone, 
He  held  this  toward  the  sun  with  one  hand, 
pointed  at  Harry  with  the  other,  and  solemnh 
recited  something  which  sounded  like  poetry 


230  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

but  which  had  few  words  which  Harry  could 
understand.  It  seemed  like  an  ancient  rit 
ual.  Then  he  passed  the  pipe  to  Harry  and 
looked  at  him  expectantly.  Harry  looked  at 
Joe  in  some  dismay.  He  did  not  know  what 
ceremony  demanded  of  him  in  return.  But 
the  ever  resourcefid  Joe  pulled  from  his  own 
pocket  a  briarwood  pipe  with  imitation  amber 
mouthpiece  and  German  silver  mountings, 
quite  a  pretty  pipe. 

"  That  belongs  to  the  mate,"  he  said,  "  but 
I  guess  he  won't  mind.  I  found  it  in  the 
cabin  one  day,  and  it  has  been  in  my  pocket 
ever  since.  Hurry  up,  he  's  looking  anxious. 
Recite  him  something  or  other." 

Kroo  was  indeed  looking  anxious,  and 
Harry  hastened  to  imitate  him  so  far  as  he 
could.  He  held  his  pipe  up  to  the  sun, 
pointed  at  Kroo,  and  recited  with  all  the  elo 
cutionary  power  he  could  muster :  — 

"  Hickory,  dickory,  dock, 
The  mouse  ran  up  the  clock, 
The  clock  struck  one, 
And  down  she  run, 
Hickory,  dickory,  dock." 

He  looked  at  Joe  with  nervous  eye  as  he  did 
this,  but  Joe  was  solemn  as  a  deacon,  never 
moving  a  muscle.  Kroo  and  the  other  vil- 


IN  THE   ENEMY'S   POWER  231 

lagers  seemed  much  impressed  with  the  Mother 
Goose  rhyme,  no  doubt  thinking  it  an  incan 
tation  of  much  power,  and  the  incident  was 
happily  ended  with  the  transfer  of  the  pipe 
and  another  hearty  handshake. 

Thus  they  bade  good-by  to  their  friends, 
and  with  Harluk  in  the  lead  and  the   dogs 

o 

tugging  at  the  loaded  sled,  took  their  way 
down  the  coast  on  the  ice.  For  the  first  few 
days  travel  was  not  difficult,  and  they  made 
good  progress.  They  were  inured  to  Arctic 
weather,  and  the  mildness  of  spring  and  the 
thought  that  they  were  headed  toward  home, 
even  though  defeated  and  impoverished,  filled 
them  with  exhilaration.  In  three  days  they 
made  something  over  sixty  miles,  taking  them 
well  below  Point  Lay  and  promising  an  ex 
ceptionally  quick  trip.  The  Arctic  pack  was 
still  glued  to  the  shore,  and  the  travel  over 
it  was  safe.  After  the  third  night's  sleep, 
however,  they  found  an  unexpected  obstacle. 
The  river  known  to  the  Eskimos  as  the  Kuk- 
powrak  enters  the  sea  here,  flowing  far  from 
the  interior  and  flooded  by  the  spring  thaw, 
a  rushing  torrent.  It  was  impossible  to  ford 
this  river,  and  its  warmer  waters  had  opened 
the  sea  ice  for  a  broad  space  as  far  out  as  the 
eye  could  see.  It  effectually  blocked  their 


THE  TOUXG  ICE  WHALERS 


wait  tffl  the  snows  w«fi%iiieltecL     Then 
the  floodswofiUfaDassnddenly  asthey  had 

and  they  would  be  able  to  ford  it. 
How  long'  wffl  that  be  ?  "  asked  Joe. 

then  answered  with 


"  Tea  sleeps?  "  said  Joe;  «  twenty  sleeps? 
h*  the  answer  was  stffl  ^  TUkuam  pejok 


r.     To  atteotpt  to  pass  the 
cm  the  iee  was  a  donbtfnl  thing  at  that 
At  any  tiae  a  wind  from  the  south 
oat  to  sea,  and  those  on 


n  ice  jam  on  which  they 
eovld  ems%  and  after  thinking  the  matter 
OT«r£orhaKadaT,Joedeeided>thatitwoald 


4k*  It**  dE  idfa^  s 

Tnere  was  stffl  snow  in  many  place*  on  the 

of  this  where 

In  other  places  the  sled  did  not 
go  badry  orer  the  tondra  moss,  yet  travel  was 
mndi  slower  than  OB  die  ke,  and  in  thirty-six 
tfaey  had  hardly  made  fifteen  miles. 


IX  THE  EXEITTS  POWER 

They  found  dwarf  willows  and  alders,  scarce 
three  feet  high,  plentiful  along  the  banks  of 
this  river,  and  fccK  of  ptarmigan  in  then 
so  tame  that  they  would  not  rise  at  a  rifle-shot. 
They  killed  many  of  these,  and  with  plenty 
of  willow  wood  for  fire,  lived  welL  Yet  it 
was  anxious  work,  and,  as  they 
much  more  difficult ;  moreover, 
from  the  coast  they  entered  a  height  of 
land,  almost  a  mountain  range,  through  which 
the  river  broke  in  a  series  of  falls.  Here  in 
three  days'  all  aggie  through  ravines  and  up 
limestone  slopes  they  hardly  made  ten  miles. 
At  the  top  they  found  better  going,  but  hero 
the  river  seemed  to  trend  more  to  the  east, 
and  they  had  the  humiliation  of  working 
away  from  their  destination  in  spite  of  their 
labor. 

nfound  it,"  said  Joe  ruefully,  as  they 
camped  late  one  afternoon,  %%  we  "d  have  done 
better  to  start  before  it  began  to  thaw  at  all. 
Then  it  would  be  a  straight  trip  on  the  ice  and 
nothing  to  bother  us  but  cold,  and  that  *s  no 
great  harm/' 

"I  don't  see  much  use  in  this"  replied 
Harry,  weary  and  somewhat  discouraged. 
"  We  might  follow  up  this  river  a  hundred 
miles.  Seems  as  if  we  had  gone  most  as  far 


234  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

as  that  already,  and  still  there  is  no  chance 
to  cross.  We  '11  have  to  do  as  Harluk  says, 
sit  down  and  wait  for  the  water  to  run  out." 

"  I  think  we  '11  camp  here  for  a  day,"  said 
Joe.  "  The  dogs  are  tired  and  so  am  I.  Be 
sides,  we  are  almost  out  of  dog  feed.  If  we 
watch  out,  we  may  get  a  caribou.  There 
were  tracks  back  there.  I  'd  like  some  deer 
meat  myself." 

The  northernmost  deer  of  the  American 
continent  is  the  caribou,  sometimes  called  the 
American  reindeer.  He  differs  from  the 
Asiatic  reindeer  mainly  in  size  and  length  of 
limb,  the  caribou  being  taller  and  larger. 
Otherwise,  physically,  they  are  much  alike, 
live  on  the  same  food,  and  have  the  same 
general  appearance.  But  while  the  Siberian 
deer  is  easily  domesticated  and  is  bred  and  han 
dled  in  vast  herds  by  the  natives,  the  Ameri 
can  type  is  wild  and  untamable.  He  loves 
the  barren  wastes  of  the  far  north,  and  every 
summer  migrates  to  the  northernmost  shores, 
even  passing  on  to  the  unexplored  islands 
off  the  coast  in  the  Arctic  sea.  Here  he 
roams  and  feeds  until  the  fierce  gales  of  win 
ter  drive  him  south  to  the  first  shelter  of  the 
low  clumps  of  firs  and  birches  which  mark 
the  limits  of  the  barren  grounds.  Hardy, 


•    \.MI-  ON    II  IK   Tl   XDRA 


IN  THE   ENEMY'S   POWER  235 

restless  creatures,  the  caribou  often  wander  in 
immense  herds,  following  a  leader  as  sheep 
do.  The  Eskimos  hunt  them  in  summer 
when  they  approach  the  Arctic  shores,  and 
know  their  habits  well,  taking  particular  ad 
vantage  of  their  curiosity.  The  hunter  sits 
down  among  the  rocks  when  a  herd  is  in 
sight  and  imitates  their  hoarse  bellow.  Some 
of  the  herd  will  surely  draw  near  to  see 
what  this  motionless  object  is.  Round  and 
round  it  they  circle,  approaching  nearer  and 
nearer,  until  one  is  within  reach  of  the  hunt 
er's  weapon.  Sometimes  the  herd  will  run 
the  gauntlet  of  a  line  of  hunters  just  because 
one  stupid  animal  has  gone  that  way  in  his 
attempt  to  escape,  and  the  rest  are  determined 
to  follow  his  lead.  At  such  times  the  Es 
kimo  hunters  lay  in  large  stocks  of  meat 
and  furs  and  consider  themselves  wealthy, 
for  the  hide  of  the  caribou  makes  splendid 
clothing  for  them.  It  is  very  light  and  im 
penetrable  to  the  wind,  and  no  garment  so 
successfully  resists  the  Arctic  cold  as  this. 
The  Eskimo  uses  the  hide,  tanned,  for  thongs 
for  nets  and  lines.  A  split  shinbone  makes 
a  good  bone  knife,  and  fish-hooks  and  spears 
are  made  from  the  horns,  while  the  tendons 
of  certain  muscles  make  fine  and  strong  thread 


236  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

for  sewing  with  the  bone  needle.  Hence,  as 
with  the  walrus  and  seal,  the  whole  animal  is 
utilized.  The  caribou  has  a  great  hoof,  split 
nearly  to  the  hock,  which  spreads  and  enables 
the  animal  to  travel  in  soft  snow  or  boggy 
tundra,  where  an  ordinary  deer  would  sink. 

This  hoof,  too,  is  sharp,  and  gives  the  ani 
mal  a  firm  footing  on  ice.  It  is  also  a  weapon 
of  defense  far  more  formidable  than  the  horns. 
A  blow  from  it  is  like  that  of  an  axe,  and  woe 
to  the  hunter  who  comes  within  reach  of  the 
fore  hoofs  of  a  wounded  and  desperate  cari 
bou.  Thus  shod  the  caribou  can  travel  faster 
on  the  ice  than  any  other  animal,  and,  when 
at  bay,  can  slay  a  wolf  with  one  well-directed 
blow  of  its  hoof.  Yet  the  animal  is  so  stupid 
and  timid  that  it  rarely  uses  this  weapon,  and 
then  oftener  in  a  blind  struggle  than  with 
intent  to  do  harm.  Such  are  the  deer  of  the 
barren  grounds,  which  Harluk  and  the  two 
boys  set  forth  to  hunt. 

Harry  and  Joe  had  repeating  rifles,  but 
Harluk  was  armed  only  with  his  ivory-headed 
spear,  tipped  with  a  triangular  steel  point. 
With  this  in  hand  he  led  them,  first,  to  a  pin 
nacle  of  limestone,  about  three  miles  away. 
The  tundra  was  bare  and  brown,  patched  here 
and  there  with  snowdrifts,  and  undulating  to 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  POWER  237 

the  southward  in  a  sort  of  rolling  prairie. 
Behind  them  and  on  either  hand  were  the 
rough  peaks  of  the  height  of  land  which  they 
had  gained  the  day  before,  —  a  scene  bare, 
desolate,  but  fascinating,  a  bit  of  primeval 
chaos  left  over  in  the  making  of  the  world. 
Standing  on  this  summit,  Harluk  scanned  the 
horizon  to  the  east  and  south,  and  finally 
pointed  due  east  in  silence.  Joe  and  Harry 
looked  carefully.  They  saw  slowly  moving 
dots  on  the  plain  some  miles  away.  These 
had  not  been  there  a  moment  before.  As 
they  watched,  others  appeared,  as  if  out  of 
the  ground. 

A  herd  of  caribou  was  rounding  a  low  hill 

o 

at  a  swinging  trot.  By  and  by  there  were 
perhaps  forty  in  sight,  traveling  northwest  at 
a  quite  rapid  rate,  as  if  fleeing  before  some 
thing. 

"  Kile,"  said  Harluk,  and  putting  his  head 
down,  he  started  north  at  a  good  rate  of  speed, 
evidently  bound  on  intercepting  them.  The 
Eskimo  is  not  a  good  runner,  but  he  is  per 
sistent.  Harluk  plunged  on,  falling  over  his 
own  feet,  but  scrambling  up  again,  leaving 
dents  in  the  soft  tundra  moss,  and  still  keep 
ing  up  the  pace,  which  bade  fair  in  the  end 
to  wind  Joe  and  Harry,  until  he  reached  a 


238  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

place  that  suited  him  in  what  seemed  to  be 
the  path  of  the  advancing  herd.  It  was  a 
wide,  shallow  valley  between  two  low  limestone 
hills.  It  was  dotted  here  and  there  with  scat 
tered  boulders,  and  the  ground  was  rough 
with  broken  rock  chinked  with  deer  moss. 
Harluk  placed  the  boys  behind  boulders  at 
the  extreme  right  and  left  of  this  valley,  and 
bade  them  wait  motionless  until  deer  came 
near  enough  to  shoot.  He  himself  hastily 
built  a  little  circular  inclosure  of  stone  in 
which  he  could  crouch  unobserved. 

A  half  hour  passed,  during  which  there  was 
no  sign.  The  sun  was  low,  and  Harry  shiv 
ered,  sitting  motionless  in  the  chill  of  the 
valley.  A  snow-bunting  came  flitting  along 
and  lighted  fearlessly  beside  him,  and  the  next 
moment  a  great  snowy  owl  swept  over  the 
ridge  and  down  upon  the  snow-bunting,  which 
wriggled  between  Harry's  feet  for  protection. 
The  owl  glared  at  him  fiercely  for  a  moment 
with  great  round  eyes,  then  slipped  into  the 
air  again,  and  vanished  down  the  valley.  As 
Harry  watched  him,  he  saw  branching  antlers, 
and  a  caribou  came  around  the  curve,  followed 
by  more  and  more,  feeding  and  wandering 
toward  him.  He  sat  rigid,  his  eyes  fixed  upon 
them  like  a  dog  at  the  point.  They  nibbled 


IN  THE   ENEMY'S   POWER  239 

at  the  gray  moss,  unconscious  of  danger,  but 
lifted  their  heads  and  gazed  in  surprise  as  a 
most  discordant  bellow  came  from  the  circle 
of  stone  where  Harluk  lay  hidden.  Their 
manner  changed  in  a  moment  from  shambling 
and  slouchy  to  alert,  upheaded,  and  vigilant. 
They  pawed  the  earth  and  sniffed  suspi 
ciously,  then  began  to  move  toward  Harluk's 
stone  fort.  Their  heads  were  high,  their 
muzzles  thrust  forward,  and  they  trod  with 
dainty  alertness  where  before  they  had  sham 
bled.  Out  of  the  tail  of  his  eye  Harry  could 
see  Harluk's  hand  and  fur-clad  arm  waving 
grotesquely  above  the  stones.  It  was  this 
that  had  held  the  attention  of  the  herd  and 
toward  which  their  curiosity  was  leading  them. 
Within  twenty  minutes  the  whole  herd  were 
circling  about  the  little  inclosure  of  stone, 
drawing  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  hand  that 
waved  above  it.  They  were  within  gunshot 
of  either  Harry  or  Joe  now,  but  neither  might 
shoot  lest  he  endanger  Harluk.  Moreover, 
neither  boy  had  shot  deer  before,  and  the 
sight  of  forty  of  these  great  creatures  within 
gunshot  had  given  both  the  buck  fever. 
Harry  found  himself  shaking  as  with  the 
palsy,  and  had  an  almost  irresistible  desire  to 
throw  his  gun  in  the  air  and  halloo. 


240  THE   YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

The  deer  were  very  near  Harluk  now,  and 
his  beckoning  arm  had  shrunken  to  the  tip 
of  his  mitten,  now  lifted  a  little,  then  slowly 
withdrawn.  The  deer  fairly  crowded  forward 
to  look  for  it.  As  their  muzzles  appeared 
over  the  stones,  Harluk  leaped  to  his  feet  with 
a  tremendous  yell.  The  effect  was  to  paralyze 
the  herd  for  a  second.  They  stamped  and 
snorted,  but  stood  firm  while  Harluk  lunged 
with  his  spear  full  at  the  shoulder  of  the 
nearest.  The  shaft  went  home,  and  the  deer 
sank  to  the  ground  transfixed  to  the  heart. 
Immediately  there  was  a  tremendous  stampede 
among  the  deer.  The  stupid  creatures  rushed 
this  way  and  that,  colliding  with  one  another 
in  a  paroxysm  of  terror,  then  started  down 
the  valley  again  in  the  direction  whence  they 
had  come.  In  this  sudden  confusion  a  cari 
bou  was  knocked  fairly  from  his  feet,  falling 
against  Harluk  from  behind  and  tripping  him. 
He  scrambled  to  his  feet  again  with  a  rush 
and  carried  Harluk  clinging  mechanically  to 
his  back,  too  surprised  to  do  anything  else. 
As  the  herd  clattered  by,  Harry  saw  Joe 
spring  to  his  feet  and  begin  to  jump  up  and 
down,  wave  his  rifle  in  the  air,  and  halloo. 
He  shouted  to  him  to  quit  that  and  shoot, 
and  then  it  came  to  him  that  he  was  doing 


IN  HIE   ENEMY'S   POWER  241 

precisely  the  same  thing,  nor  did  he  seem  to 
be  able  to  stop,  even  when  he  was  conscious 
of  it,  until  the  herd  was  well  by  him. 

Such  is  the  effect  of  the  buck  fever.  In 
its  delirium  people  are  sometimes  conscious 
that  they  are  acting  absurdly,  but  do  not 
have  the  power  to  stop  it. 

By  the  time  the  herd  was  so  far  down  the 
valley  that  it  was  nearly  out  of  gunshot,  Harry 
and  Joe  had  come  to  sufficiently  to  do  some 
wild  shooting.  This  had  no  effect  but  to 

o 

bring  an  equally  wild  yell  from  Harluk,  who 
rolled  from  his  perch  at  the  whistling  of  the 
bullets  and  abandoned  his  quarry.  Of  the 
forty  caribou  among  which  they  had  been  for 
a  half  hour  or  more,  they  had  secured  but 
one.  However,  they  had  enough  meat  for  the 
present,  and  they  divided  up  the  animal  and 
started  back  for  the  camp  with  it  on  their 
shoulders. 

They  reached  the  spot  where  they  had 
camped  before  the  hunt,  and  stared  and 
rubbed  their  eyes  with  many  exclamations  of 
astonishment  and  alarm.  There  was  no  trace 
of  tent,  sled,  or  dogs.  All  had  vanished. 
They  threw  down  their  burdens  and  looked 
at  one  another. 

"Are  you  sure  this  is  the  place?"  asked 
Harry. 


242  THE   YOUNG   ICE  WHALERS 

In  reply,  Harluk  nodded  his  head  vehe 
mently,  and  Joe  pointed  in  silence  to  the  heavy 
stones  they  had  used  in  place  of  tent-pegs. 
They  still  made  a  quadrilateral  which  marked 
the  spot,  but  there  was  nothing  more. 

"  What  are  we  going  to  do  ? "  faltered 
Harry.  For  a  moment  he  felt  as  if  the  ghost 
people  of  the  Nunatak  were  not  so  unreal 
after  all.  He  thought  he  saw  the  same 
feeling  reflected  in  Harluk's  face,  and  the 
fantastic  loneliness  of  the  country  seemed 
to  impress  itself  upon  him  more  than  ever. 
It  was  like  a  bad  dream,  in  which,  all  things 
being  unreal,  nothing  was  too  strange  to 
happen. 

Joe  broke  the  spell  with  sturdy  common 
sense.  "  I  '11  tell  you  what  we  are  going  to 
do,"  he  said.  "  Here 's  deer  meat  in  plenty, 
and  I  've  got  matches  in  my  pocket.  We  're 
going  to  cook  some  venison  and  have  a  square 
meal.  Then  we  '11  hunt  for  tracks.  I  don't 
believe  anybody  could  get  away  with  that  out 
fit  without  leaving  a  trail  behind.  You  and 
Harluk  cut  some  steaks  off  that  rump  while 
I  get  wood." 

The  two  turned  to  the  carcass  of  the  deer, 
while  Joe  started  down  the  bank  and  round  a 
jutting  corner  of  cliff,  toward  some  willow 


IN*    THK    ENEMY'S   POWER  243 

shrubs.  As  he  passed  down  along  the  side  of 
the  cliff,  he  had  a  strange  feeling  that  some 
one  was  looking  sharply  at  him,  and  turned 
just  in  time  to  see  a  face  at  his  elbow,  —  the 
same  evil,  half-white  face  that  he  had  seen  in 
the  night  at  Icy  Cape,  when  he  was  struck  on 
the  head  with  the  piece  of  ice.  He  gave  a 
cry  of  astonishment  and  alarm,  but  was  seized 
and  tripped  from  behind,  and  any  further 
outcry  stopped  by  a  blanket  being  bound 
tightly  over  his  head.  In  spite  of  his  strug 
gles,  he  was  effectually  gagged,  bound,  and 
carried  behind  a  projection  of  the  cliff. 

Harry  heard  this  cry  of  Joe's,  and  answered 
it,  thinking  it  was  a  call.  Then,  getting  no 
reply,  he  went  on  with  his  very  simple  prepa 
rations  for  the  meal.  These  done,  he  went  in 
search  of  Joe.  He  could  not  see  him  among 
the  willows.  He  called  and  got  no  answer. 
The  ghostly  loneliness  of  the  Arctic  came  over 
him  with  telling  force.  Was  Joe,  too,  to  dis 
appear  and  leave  no  trace  behind? 

"  Joe  !  "  he  shouted ;  "  Joe !  "  and  the  cliffs 
across  the  Kukpowrak  answered  with  mocking 
echoes ;  that  was  all.  Then  he  turned,  and 
he,  too,  was  seized  by  three  men,  who  had 
stealthily  approached  him  from  behind.  He 
was  bound  and  silenced  as  Joe  had  been,  but 


244  THE   YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

not  before  he  had  shouted  twice  for  Harluk 
at  the  top  of  his  lungs. 

One  of  the  men  who  had  captured  him 
swore  at  this  in  good  round  English ;  then, 
leaving  one  to  guard  Harry,  two  of  them 
hastened  to  the  camp  with  rifles,  but  Harluk 
the  wise  had  followed  Harry  empty  handed, 
seen  his  capture,  fled  back  to  the  camp,  and 
with  both  Joe's  and  Harry's  rifles  was  scurry 
ing  across  the  tundra  in  the  direction  of  the 
sea,  as  fast  as  his  Eskimo  legs  could  carry  him. 
Fired  upon,  he  dropped  behind  a  boulder,  and 
pumped  such  a  fusillade  of  shots  back  at  his 
two  would-be  captors  that  one  of  them  dropped 
his  rifle  with  a  cry  of  pain,  put  his  hand  to  his 
leg,  and  went  hopping  off  toward  shelter  in  a 
hurry.  The  other  followed ;  but  just  before 
he  reached  safety  he  threw  up  his  hands,  and 
plunged  heavily  forward  on  his  face.  Har- 
luk's  last  shot  had  caught  him  under  the  left 
shoulder  blade  and  passed  through  his  heart. 

The  Eskimo  gave  a  yell  of  triumph  and 
defiance,  and  then  fled  on,  with  his  two  rifles, 
over  the  ridge  and  out  of  sight ;  nor  did  the 
enemy  make  any  attempt  to  follow  him.  Had 
they  done  so,  they  might  have  seen  that,  after 
he  had  placed  a  good  safe  distance  behind 
him,  he  climbed  the  highest  peak  near  by, 


IN  THE   ENEMY'S. POWER  245 

and  sat  there,  motionless,  watching  for  hours. 
Then  he  carefully  picked  his  way  hack,  keep 
ing  in  shelter  as  much  as  possible,  still  clinging 
to  his  two  rifles,  one  of  which  held  a  few 
cartridges.  The  magazine  of  the  other  was 
full. 

Of  the  party  which  had  captured  Joe  and 
Harry,  the  evil-faced  half-white  man,  who  had 
sworn  in  English,  seemed  to  be  the  leader. 
He  took  his  way  back  to  those  who  were 
guarding  Joe  and  Harry,  and  bade  them  take 
the  gags  from  their  mouths  and  the  bonds 
from  their  feet.  Harry  no  sooner  found  his 
tongue  free  than  he  used  it. 

O 

"  Look  here,"  he  sputtered  ;  "  what  does 
this  mean  ?  Why  have  you  attacked  us  ? 
We  have  done  you  no  harm." 

The  half-breed  smiled  an  evil  smile,  and 
pointed  at  his  eye.  Harry  remembered  the 
fight  in  the  snow  igloo,  the  blow  with  which 
he  had  closed  his  opponent's  eye,  and  now  he 
remembered  the  face. 

"  Bimeby  plenty  sorry/'  the  half-breed  said. 
"  No  fire  ghost  come  now." 

Harry  and  Joe  were  led  back  to  the  camp 
ing-spot.  There  lay  the  body  of  the  dead ; 
and  as  the  half-breed  looked  at  it  he  scowled 
and  looked  at  his  own  roughly  bandaged  limb, 


246  THE  YOIJNG  ICE  WHALERS 

which  caused  him  to  limp  painfully.  He 
pointed  at  the  corpse  and  then  at  the  two 
prisoners. 

"  One  dead  now/'  he  said ;  "  bimeby  two 
dead."  Then  he  laughed  a  mirthless  laugh. 

Strongly  guarded  by  five  fierce-looking  out 
laws  with  rifles,  there  was  no  reasonable  chance 
of  escape,  even  when  the  lashings  were  taken 
from  their  hands  as  well,  and  the  two  boys 
submitted  to  being  loaded  with  the  venison 
they  had  shot,  and  marched  on  up  river.  A 
quarter  of  a  mile  away  they  found  their  dog 
team  harnessed  into  the  sled  and  their  belong 
ings  securely  packed  upon  it,  guarded  by  a 
single  outlaw.  Here,  too,  was  another  team 
of  four  dogs  and  a  sled,  and  traces  of  several 
days'  camping.  It  was  evident  that  in  coming 
up  the  Kukpowrak  they  had  marched  right 
into  the  camp  of  the  outlaw  Ankuts  who  had 
personated  the  ghost  wolves,  and  whom  they, 
with  the  lucky  aid  of  their  impromptu  fire 
spirit,  had  so  signally  defeated.  Now  the 
tables  were  turned  ;  but  they  were  totally  un 
prepared  for  the  further  surprise  that  was  in 
store  for  them.  That  was  to  come  many  days 
afterward,  however. 

The  Ankuts  cooked  venison  here  and  made 
a  meal.  The  chief  outlaw  bound  up  his  wound 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S   POWER  247 

more  carefully,  and  though  it  was  slight, 
insisted  on  riding  as  they  went  on  up  river. 
This  overweighted  the  sleds,  and  the  boys 
were  forced  to  shoulder  part  of  the  load. 
Indeed,  they  soon  found  that,  though  they 
were  not  treated  harshly,  their  position  was 
much  that  of  slaves,  and  they  were  so  closely 
watched  that  escape  seemed  impossible  with 
out  great  risk  of  being  shot  down  in  the 
attempt.  Thus  for  two  days  they  followed 
the  course  of  the  Kukpowrak,  then  they  bore 
off  to  the  left  across  a  nearly  level  table-land 
a  day's  journey. 

There  was  no  sign  of  human  being  on  this 
three  days'  march;  bare  tundra  and  gray 
limestone  or  blue  slate  rocks  made  the  scene 
one  of  peculiar  desolation,  yet,  though  neither 
the  highbinders  nor  the  boys  knew  it,  a 
solitary  figure  kept  watch  of  all  their  move 
ments  and  was  never  far  behind  them.  All 
the  savage  hunter  had  been  roused  in  Harluk, 
and  he  trailed  the  band  with  the  vindictive 
persistency  of  an  Apache  brave.  He  lived 
on  an  occasional  ground  squirrel  or  small  bird 
knocked  over  among  scrub  willows,  and  kept 
his  precious  ammunition  for  more  deadly 
use.  It  had  been  well  for  the  highbinders 

O 

if   they    had    reckoned    more  carefully  with 


248  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Harluk.  He  had  seen  his  comrade  Konwa 
dead.  He  had  seen  one  of  the  enemy  fall 
by  his  own  hand.  Henceforward  the  gentle 
and  timid  Eskimo  was  changed  into  a  bold, 
aggressive,  cunning,  and  bloodthirsty  fight 
ing  man.  The  highbinders  were  to  hear 
from  Harluk  again. 

At  the  end  of  the  third  day's  journey  they 
came  to  a  scene  of  wild  and  singular  beauty. 
The  table-land  opened  out  into  an  oval 
valley  rimmed  at  the  further  end  with  abrupt, 
sharp-pointed  hills,  at  the  base  of  which 
another  river  flowed  northward.  This  valley, 
to  the  surprise  of  the  boys,  seemed  a  bit  out 
of  another  world.  In  it  was  no  snow,  and 
the  grass  was  already  tall.  Moreover,  there 
the  willows  grew  to  a  much  greater  height 
than  elsewhere,  and  were  already  pale  green 
with  young  leaves.  Compared  with  the  gray, 
bare,  Arctic  desolation  through  which  they 
had  traveled,  it  was  like  a  bit  of  paradise. 

Harry,  tired  out  and  discouraged,  groaned 
at  the  sight  of  this  beauty  spot.  "  What 's 
the  matter  with  you  ?  "  asked  Joe. 

"  It  makes  me  homesick,"  said  Harry. 
"  It  reminds  me  of  the  marshes  down  by  the 
Fore  River  in  early  May.  It 's  like  home." 

"  Well,  I  guess  it 's  likely  to  be  home  for 


IN  THE  ENEMY'S  POWER  249 

us  for  a  while,"  said  Joe  philosophically. 
"  It  looks  as  if  the  highbinders  made  it  their 
headquarters.  See  all  the  igloos  down  there, 
and  the  people,  too  !  " 

They  noted  many  good  sized  stone  igloos, 
chinked  with  deer  moss,  at  their  right  as  they 
wound  down  into  the  valley,  and  a  small  stream, 
which  seemed  to  issue  from  the  ground  near 
by.  It  seemed  as  if  little  clouds  of  steam 
rose  from  this  stream,  especially  at  its  source, 
and  at  sight  of  it  Joe  gave  an  exclamation  of 
appreciation.  "  I  know  about  this  now,"  he 
said;  "it's  one  of  those  hot  springs  I've  heard 
the  Eskimos  tell  about  as  being  inland  here. 

o 

That  is  why  the  willows  are  so  tall  and  every 
thing  so  forward.  It  keeps  the  place  warmed 
up  the  year  round." 

But  it  was  little  of  the  brightness  and 
beauty  of  this  little  warm-weather  oasis  in  the 
bleak  surroundings  that  the  boys  were  to  see. 
They  were  ordered  to  drop  their  burdens  on 
reaching  the  igloos,  and  presently  conducted 
to  one  of  the  strongest  built  and  least  pre 
possessing  of  them.  Once  within  this,  the 
low  entrance  was  blocked  with  stone  and 
they  were  left  to  themselves. 


CHAPTER  X 

"  THE    FEAST    OF    THE    OLD    SEAI/S    HEAD " 

THE  igloo  in  which  Joe  and  Harry  were 
confined  was  unlighted  except  by  sundry 
chinks  in  the  stones  through  which  rays  of 
light  pierced  the  gloom.  These  showed,  as 
soon  as  their  eyes  had  become  accustomed 
to  the  semi-darkness,  the  customary  raised 
bench  at  one  side  covered  with  some  ancient 
deerskins  for  a  couch,  a  stone  blubber  lamp, 
a  stone  fireplace  in  the  centre,  where  charred 
willow  twigs  showed  that  some  one  had  once 
used  it,  and  nothing  more.  Yet  so  weary  were 
the  boys  with  their  day's  toil  that  they  threw 
themselves  on  this  questionable  couch  and 
soon  slept  the  sleep  of  utter  fatigue.  Some 
hours  later  they  roused  refreshed,  and  were 
greeted  by  a  cautious  "  'St !  'st !  "  from  the 
blocked  entrance.  Stepping  quickly  there, 
Joe,  saw  through  an  opening  in  the  stones  a 
good-natured  Eskimo  face  that  lighted  up 
with  a  smile  at  sight  of  him. 

"  Here,"  it  said  in  Eskimo.    "  Plenty  eat. 
By  and  by  have  trouble." 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD   SEAL'S  HEAD    251 

A  fur-clad  arm  thrust  what  looked  to  be  a 
bundle  of  grass  through  the  aperture  in  the 
stones,  and  the  Eskimo  hurried  away.  Joe 
opened  this  bundle  and  found  in  it  several 
small  white  fish,  just  warm  from  the  fire  and 
cooked  without  salt,  yet  appetizing  to  the 
hungry  boys,  who  made  a  meal  of  them  forth 
with.  Nevertheless,  though  it  was  evident 
that  they  had  a  friend,  his  words  were  far 
from  reassuring,  and  the  boys  speculated 
much  as  to  what  was  to  happen  to  them. 
Through  the  chinks  in  their  rough  stone 
prison  they  managed  to  see  a  good  deal  that 
was  going  on  in  the  little  village,  and  it  did 
not  take  them  long  to  guess  something  of  its 
ways  of  life.  It  was  evident  that  it  was  a 
highbinder  stronghold,  and  that  a  band  of  a 
dozen  or  so  of  these  marauders  lorded  it  over 
the  rest  of  the  community,  which  seemed  to 
consist  of  a  dozen  more  Eskimos,  one  or  two 
men,  but  mainly  women  and  boys  and  girls. 
They  saw  these  latter  bring  fish  from  the 
river  and  firewood  from  along  its  banks,  one 
or  two  women  cooking,  boys  and  girls  doing 
menial  service  at  the  bidding  of  the  Ankuts, 
who  stalked  among  them  with  airs  of  superi 
ority  that  were  comical.  Not  so  comical  was 
their  brutality  to  their  youthful  slaves,  whom 


252  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

they  did  not  hesitate  to  strike  or  kick  brutally 
at  little  provocation.  These  seemed  to  be  in 
a  state  of  abject  submission  to  their  oppres 
sors,  and  the  sight  made  the  blood  of  the 
boys  hot  with  indignation,  not  unmixed  with 
apprehension  as  to  their  own  treatment  in 
the  near  future.  They  discussed  the  situation, 
and  tried  to  make  plans  for  an  escape,  but  it 
did  not  seem  that  this  could  be  attempted  im 
mediately.  To  get  out  of  their  stone  prison 
would  be  an  easy  matter,  but  once  free,  the 
chances  of  further  escape  from  among  the 
band  of  well-armed  men  who  surrounded  them 
would  be  slight,  indeed.  They  must  wait  a 
more  favorable  opportunity,  reserving  the 
chances  of  a  dash  for  a  last  resort. 

As  they  talked  and  watched,  they  heard 
low  moans  of  pain  that  came  from  a  near-by 
igloo,  and  a  wail  of  "  Ah-nu-naA  /  Ah-nu- 
nah  !  "  (Sick  !  Sick  !)  This  was  repeated  at 
intervals  and  seemed  to  grow  louder.  By 
and  by  a  boy  issued  from  this  igloo  and 
went  with  seeming  reluctance  to  another  one 
some  distance  away,  whence  he  issued  with 
one  of  the  Ankuts.  The  two  came  back  to 
the  first  igloo,  and  the  wizard  took  up  his  po 
sition  in  the  open  space  directly  in  front  of 
it.  This  was  in  plain  view  of  the  boys,  and 


THE   FEAST  OF  THE  OLD   SEAL'S   HEAD    253 

they  watched  farther  proceedings  with  much 
interest. 

Soon  the  Eskimo  boy  appeared  again,  bring 
ing  a  couple  of  white  fox  skins.  These  he 
laid  at  the  feet  of  the  wizard,  who  regarded 
them  contemptuously  for  a  moment  and  then 
spurned  them  with  his  foot.  The  boy  retired 
again,  and  after  a  longer  time  reappeared 
with  several  small  ermine  pelts.  These  he 
added  to  the  fox  skins  and  waited.  The 
wizard  shook  his  head,  but  the  boy  also  shook 
his  despondently,  saying  "  Naume "  (No 
more). 

This  seemed  to  satisfy  the  wizard  that  he 
was  receiving  all  that  he  could  get  in  payment 
for  his  services,  and  he  finally  picked  up  the 
pelts  and  laid  them  behind  him.  The  boy 
reentered  the  igloo  and  came  out  leading  an 

o  o 

old  woman,  whose  wails  of  "  A.h-uu.-nah  ! " 
were  louder  as  they  reached  the  spot  where 
stood  the  wizard.  She  pressed  both  hands  to 
her  head,  as  if  that  were  in  great  pain,  and 
crouched  before  the  Ankut,  who  was  imme 
diately  transformed  from  an  immobile  and 
haughty  personage  into  a  sort  of  wild  skirt 
dancer.  He  whirled  about  the  old  woman  in 
a  circle,  and  from  his  clothes  somewhere  ap 
peared  a  couple  of  great  knives  with  which 


254  THE   YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

he  juggled  in  an  astonishing  manner,  tossing 
and  catching  them  deftly,  and  surrounding 
himself  with  a  circle  of  flashing  steel.  Harry 
gave  an  exclamation  of  astonishment  at  this. 
It  was  so  little  like  the  clumsy  and  awkward 
manner  of  the  every-day  Eskimo.  A  crowd 
of  people  had  surrounded  the  group,  and 
gazed  with  wonder  and  awe  on  this  perform 
ance,  scattering  like  leaves  in  the  wind  when 
the  dancing  juggler  of  knives  swung  too  near 
them.  The  wizard  soon  began  to  howl  and 
clap  his  hands  to  his  own  head,  still  in  some 
mysterious  manner  keeping  the  knives  whirl 
ing.  The  sick  woman  had  forgotten  her  own 
pain  in  wonder  at  this  exhibition,  and  sat 
mute  and  open-mouthed.  Suddenly  the  wiz 
ard  shouted,  "  Come  out,  spirit !  Leave  the 
woman's  head  and  come  out !  "  He  whirled 
up  to  the  side  of  the  sick  woman  before  she 
could  recover  from  her  astonishment,  slipped 
one  of  the  knives  out  of  sight  again  in  his 
own  clothes  and  with  the  other  made  a  slash 
that  cut  deep  into  her  temple,  and  pretended 
to  draw  something  from  the  wound.  This 
he  held  up  in  the  sight  of  the  surrounding- 
crowd. 

It  was  a  curious,  brown,  many-legged  worm, 
such  as  are  found  in  rotten  wood,  and  which 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S  HEAD  256 

no  doubt  infest  the  tundra  moss,  or  might 
have  been  obtained  from  driftwood  from  the 
sources  of  the  Kukpowrak,  which  has  its  rise 
far  inland  in  the  timber  line.  The  crowd 
murmured  with  astonishment  at  this,  the  wiz 
ard  retired  to  his  igloo  with  his  fox  and  er 
mine  pelts,  and  only  the  boy  remained,  sitting 
in  stolid  grief  beside  the  old  woman,  who  lay 
where  she  had  dropped  at  the  slash  of  the 
knife.  It  had  cut  deeper  than  the  wizard 
perhaps  intended.  Certainly  he  had  cured 
her  headache,  for  she  was  dead. 

The  barbarous  cruelties  of  the  Ankuts,  in 
their  attempts  to  deal  with  the  sick,  are  be 
yond  description,  and  the  boys  had  seen  only 
one  of  the  least,  but  they  turned  away,  sick 
at  heart,  and  willing  to  believe  that  the  little 
oasis  in  the  midst  of  the  barren  wastes  was 
anything  but  an  Eden  to  those  who  must  live 
there  under  the  cruel  rule  of  the  pretended 
wizards. 

It  seemed,  however,  that  they  were  soon  to 
be  released  from  their  confinement.  When 
they  again  looked  out,  they  saw  that  the  body 
of  the  old  woman  had  been  removed,  and 
there  was  a  considerable  stir  among  the  in 
habitants  of  the  little  village.  In  the  open 
within  the  circle  of  igloos  sat  the  Ankuts> 


256  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

cross-legged,  each  with  a  rifle  in  his  lap  and 
a  big  knife  at  his  hand.  About  them,  at  a 
respectful  distance,  stood  the  others  of  the 
community :  two  men,  dejected  and  spirit 
less  looking  chaps,  among  whom  Joe  thought 
he  recognized  his  friend  of  the  fishes,  three 
women,  and  six  or  seven  boys  and  girls.  All 
had  the  indifferent  and  apathetic  air  of  slaves, 
which  they  were.  As  they  looked,  the  boys 
saw  two  of  the  Ankuts  approaching,  and  a 
moment  after  the  stones  which  blocked  the 
entrance  of  their  prison  were  removed  and 
they  were  bidden  to  come  out.  The  two  An 
kuts  marched  them  to  the  circle  and  stood  by 
them. 

Harry  had  a  singular  feeling  of  weakness 
in  the  knees  in  this  march,  a  wild  desire  to 
put  out  across  the  hills  at  top  speed  coupled 
with  this  feeling  that  his  legs  might  give  way 
under  him  at  any  moment.  Somehow  he  had 
not  feared  these  men  before,  but  now  things 
looked  ominous.  He  glanced  at  Joe,  who  was 
watching  him  narrowly.  Joe  walked  erect 
and  defiant. 

"  Whatever  you  do,"  said  Joe,  "  don't  let 
them  see  that  you  are  afraid  of  them.  Put 
on  a  bold  front ;  it  may  help  us." 

So  Harry  braced  himself  and  tried  to  get 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S   HEAD    267 

the  limp  feeling  out  of  his  knees,  and  hoped 
he  succeeded  in  looking  brave  and  cool.  It 
was  evident  that  they  were  before  a  sort  of 
self-constituted  board  of  judges.  The  evil- 
faced  half-breed  seemed  to  be  the  head  of 
these,  at  once  chief  judge  and  prosecuting 
attorney.  He  spoke  somewhat  at  length,  al 
ways  referring  to  Harry  and  Joe  as  "  our 
white  brothers."  He  told  of  their  interfer 
ence  between  the  Eskimos  at  Icy  Cape  and 
the  "  ghost  wolves  of  the  Nunatak."  Such 
interference  with  the  Nunatak  people,  who 
were  the  fathers  of  wizards,  he  explained, 
was  deserving  of  punishment.  He  told  how 
the  two  had  battled  with  the  Ankuts  in  the 
snow  igloo  and  outside,  that  night.  How 
they  had  driven  them  away  with  fire  spirits, 
robbed  them  of  their  bearskins,  and  otherwise 
ill-treated  them.  Such  actions  were  deserv 
ing  of  punishment.  He  told  how  one  of 
their  comrades  had  fallen  before  the  rifle  of 
Harluk  when  the  Ankuts  had  captured  the 
two.  For  this  also,  he  argued,  they  were  de 
serving  of  punishment.  The  slayer  of  the 
Ankut  was  not  there.  Then  these,  his  friends, 
must  answer  for  his  misdeed.  This  is  the 
barbarous  idea  of  atonement  the  world  over. 
To  all  these  statements  the  other  Ankuts 


258  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

solemnly  wagged  their  heads  and  chorused : 
"  It  is  so."  Especially  were  they  vigorous 
in  their  wagging  when  the  half-breed  said : 
"  They  are  deserving  of  punishment." 

"  And  yet,"  continued  the  half-breed  with 
a  malicious  smile,  "the  white  men  are  our 
brothers.  They,  too,  are  wizards.  They  work 
with  spirits  of  fire,  and  they  rob  the  Innuit, 
the  people,  even  as  we  do." 

"  It  is  not  so,"  broke  in  Joe  fiercely.  "  We 
do  not  rob  the  people.  Instead,  we  trade  with 
them,  and  give  them  good  things  in  exchange. 
We  are  the  friends  of  the  people,  as  you  well 
know.  We  are  truly  their  brothers,  as  you 
call  us  in  derision.  But  have  a  care.  The 
white  men  are  very  many.  They  are  more 
than  the  grass  in  summer  in  number.  They 
are  very  wise,  and  can  see  far.  Have  a  care 
how  you  punish  us.  The  great  chief  of  the 
white  men  will  know  of  it,  and  will  send  his 
thunder  ships  to  punish  you,  if  you  do  us 
harm.  If  you  do  not  set  us  free,  there  shall 
be  no  more  Ankuts  among  the  tribes.  The 
great  white  chief  will  see  to  that." 

Thus  spake  Joe,  indignantly  and  fearlessly. 
Harry  thought  him  very  handsome  as  he  stood 
erect  and  thus  poured  out  defiance  at  his  armed 
enemies;  but  he  could  not  help  wondering 


THE   FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S  HEAD    259 

what  the  effect  would  be  and  whether  such 
talk  was  wise.  He  was  surprised  to  see  the  ap 
parent  change  in  attitude  of  the  Ankuts  after 
it  was  made.  They  looked  at  one  another  in 
silence.  Then  the  half-breed  spoke  again. 

"  What  my  white  brother  says  may  be  true. 
Yet  the  white  chief  is  a  long  way  off,  and 
the  Ankuts  are  very  near,  if  they  choose  to 
punish.  Still,  a  feast  is  better  than  a  fight. 
What  say  you?"  he  said  to  the  other  An 
kuts,  looking  from  one  to  another  with  his 
evil  smile  still  on  his  face.  "  Shall  our  white 
brothers  suffer  punishment,  or  shall  we  bid 
them  to  a  feast?  " 

The  same  smile  seemed  to  run  around  the 
circle  of  Ankut  faces,  and  they  all  wagged 
their  heads  vigorously.  "  It  shall  be  a  feast ! " 
they  affirmed  in  unison,  and  there  was  some 
thing  sinister  in  their  satisfaction  in  this 
change  of  programme. 

Harry  poked  Joe  with  his  elbow.  "  Great 
Scott ! "  he  said  in  a  low  tone,  "  but  we  are 
pulling  out  of  this  in  great  luck." 

His  knees  ceased  to  feel  weak  under  him, 
and  he  had  great  admiration  for  Joe's  bold 
ness,  which  had  seemingly  brought  this  happy 
change  about.  But  Joe  did  not  altogether 
share  his  delight. 


260  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

"I  don't  know  about  this/'  he  replied  in 
an  equal  undertone.  "  They  don't  look  very 
feasty." 

It  was  a  fact  that  they  did  not,  nor  did  the 
listening  drudges  who  stood  outside  the  circle. 
A  certain  wide-eyed  horror  seemed  to  pierce 
their  stolidity  and  apathy,  and  their  faces,  as 
they  looked  at  the  boys,  showed  it.  The  two 
•wizards  who  had  brought  them  out  conducted 
them  back  to  the  igloo  with  much  ceremony. 

"  Our  brothers  will  rest  here/'  they  said, 
"  while  the  feast  is  prepared  for  them.  It  will 
be  a  great  feast,  —  and  there  will  be  nothing 
but  the  bones  left  when  it  is  over." 

Joe  and  Harry  entered  the  igloo  and  sat 
down  on  the  bench.  The  doorway  was  not 
blocked  again,  but  the  two  Ankuts  stood  just 
outside,  rifle  in  hand,  as  if  on  guard.  A  little 
later  one  of  the  Eskimo  servants  appeared 
bearing  on  a  flat  slate  stone  the  head  of  an 
old  seal.  This  he  placed  on  the  floor  in  the 
middle  of  the  igloo,  looking  appealingly  at 
the  boys,  but  hastening  away  without  a  word. 
Then  two  Ankuts  appeared,  each  leading  by 
the  leash  three  heavy-chested,  wide-jawed  dogs 
that  snarled  and  fought  one  another  as  they 
came.  These  six  dogs  were  hurriedly  released 
at  the  igloo  door  and  driven  in.  Then  the 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S  HEAD    261 

Ankuts  again  blocked  the  entrance  with  the 
heavy,  flat  slate  stones,  making  it  much  more 
secure  than  before ;  so  secure,  in  fact,  that  es 
cape  from  within  would  be  well-nigh  impos 
sible.  Then  one  of  them  cried  out  in  a  loud, 
jeering  voice :  — 

"  This  is  the  feast,  0  white  men,  to  which 
you  are  bidden,  —  the  feast  of  the  old  seal's 
head.  Eat  and  be  merry,  —  and  there  shall 
be  nothing  but  bones  left." 

The  sound  of  retreating  footsteps  was 
drowned  in  the  snarling  and  scrambling  of 
the  six  wolf  dogs,  already  fighting  in  a 
blurred  mass  in  the  centre  of  the  igloo  over 
the  old  seal's  head. 

The  Eskimo  wolf  dog  that  one  sees  in 
Arctic  Alaska  is  quite  different  from  the  Es 
kimo  dog  of  the  Yukon  and  the  lower  mining 
camps  on  the  great  northwest  possession.  The 
latter  are  more  often  mongrels,  interbred  with 
all  sorts  of  dogs  from  civilization,  and  lack 
much  of  the  robust  fierceness  of  the  Arctic 
type.  On  the  desolate  northern  shores  the 
pure  type  is  much  like  the  gray  wolf,  and  is 
no  doubt  a  descendant  from  him,  sometimes 
intermixed  with  latter-day  blood  from  the 
same  source.  Indeed,  it  used  to  be  no  un 
common  thing  in  the  Eskimo  villages  to  see  a 


262  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

captured  wolf  tied  to  a  stake  in  the  village 
and  used  for  breeding  purposes.  The  usual 
color  is  a  dingy  gray  black ;  sometimes  almost 
pure  black,  as  is  the  occasional  wolf.  These 
dogs  are  large,  very  agile,  and  have  a  jaw 
that  is  full  of  great  teeth  and  as  strong  as 
iron.  Ordinarily,  when  well  fed,  they  are  not 
vicious ;  oftentimes  they  are  even  frolicsome, 
like  the  civilized  dog ;  yet  such  is  the  strength 
of  their  iron  jaws  that  even  a  playful  nip 
from  them  is  a  serious  matter,  and  hence  the 
Eskimos  never  encourage  them  to  sportive- 
ness.  Neither  do  white  men  who  have  once 
experienced  a  grip  from  those  jaws.  Their 
wolf  blood,  while  making  them  hardy  and 
strong,  gives  them  an  understrain  of  fierceness 
which  is  apt  to  make  them  dangerous  neigh 
bors,  especially  when  hungry.  Their  fights 
among  themselves  are  tremendous  and  bloody, 
(and  at  such  times  a  man  who  would  separate 
them  must  enter  the  combat  armed  with  a 
heavy  weapon  capable  of  laying  one  out  at  a 
blow.  Otherwise  his  own  life  is  in  danger. 
It  was  six  magnificent  specimens  of  this  type 
that  were  walled  into  the  igloo  with  the  boys 
and  were  already  battling  fiercely  at  the  feast 
of  the  old  seal's  head.  Purposely  left  unfed 
since  the  boys  arrived,  they  were  in  a  ferocious 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD   SEAL'S   HEAD    263 

mood.  Joe  and  Harry  drew  together  and  tried 
hard  to  make  themselves  very  small  against 
the  wall  at  the  farthest  corner  of  the  igloo. 
As  yet  the  dogs  paid  no  attention  to  them, 
and  after  the  seal  skull  had  been  well  polished 
and  the  battle  subsided,  they  still  were  un 
molested.  Yet  the  intent  of  their  captors  was 
evident.  Such  is  the  cruel  custom  that  has 
come  down  in  the  traditions  of  the  Ankuts 
of  Eskimo  land  from  time  immemorial.  The 
enemy  of  the  wizards  is  put  to  the  feast  of 
the  old  seal's  head.  If  he  survives,  he,  too, 
is  a  wizard,  and  wins  the  equal  respect  of  the 
tribe.  If  he  is  not  a  wizard,  in  very  truth, 
his  polished  bones  are  all  that  remain  when 
the  igloo  is  opened  and  the  famished  wolf 
dogs  are  taken  out. 

Harry  had  felt  fear  and  discouragement 
before  in  the  midst  of  his  strange  adventures 
in  this  strange  land,  yet  never  had  terror 
possessed  him  so  completely  as  now.  In  the 
gloom  of  the  igloo  he  could  see  the  glare  of 
the  eyes  of  the  savage  creatures  as  they 
crouched  on  the  floor,  half  lazily,  yet  half 
ready  for  a  spring,  and  he  expected  every 
moment  that  one  would  attack  him.  This  he 
well  knew  would  be  the  signal  for  a  rush  from 

O 

them  all,  for  the  instinct  of  the  wolf  pack  is 


264  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

strong  even  in  the  most  docile  Eskimo  dog, 
and  when  one  fights  they  all  do.  He  could 
feel  the  quiver  of  Joe's  elbow  where  it  touched 
his  as  they  shrank  to  the  igloo  wall  side  by 
side,  and  knew  that  his  consciousness  of  the 
danger  was  equal  to  his  own.  Yet  though 
filled  with  a  dumb  terror  of  what  was  to  come, 
neither  lost  his  self-control.  Their  hardy, 
independent  life,  the  dangers  and  disasters 
which  they  had  already  faced,  had  bred  in  each 
the  courage  of  strong  men,  the  self-reliance 
of  pioneers,  and,  though  their  case  was  des 
perate,  neither  was  willing  to  think  that  it  was 
hopeless.  Quietly  Joe  was  feeling  with  one 
hand  along  the  rough  stones  of  their  prison. 
By  and  by  he  found  something,  and  passed  it 
over  to  Harry  without  a  word.  It  was  a  long, 
angular  piece  of  the  slaty  rock,  something 
like  a  rude  stone  hatchet.  Such  a  weapon 
might  save  a  man's  life.  Yet  it  could  save 
but  one.  The  man  who  wielded  it  might  es 
cape  in  the  melee  which  was  liable  to  come 
at  any  moment.  It  was  a  slim  chance,  but  it 
was  all  there  was.  The  weaponless  man  would 
be  torn  to  pieces.  Harry  felt  the  devotion  and 
courageous  self-sacrifice  which  could  make 
this  priceless  gift  to  a  friend  at  such  a  mo 
ment,  and  his  heart  swelled  within  him  as  he 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S   HEAD    265 

clasped  Joe's  hand  in  the  dim  light.  He  tried 
not  to  take  this  rude  weapon,  but  Joe  pressed 
it  on  him,  and  after  a  little  he  consented, 
mentally  resolved  that  he  would  wield  it  in 
Joe's  defense  in  preference  to  his  own.  It  is 
such  deeds  and  such  resolves  that  try  the 
temper  of  men's  souls  and  prove  them  truly 
noble. 

Time  passed,  how  slowly  only  those  who 
have  faced  similar  terrors  can  tell.  Moments 
seemed  to  stretch  out  into  hours  that  in  turn 
became  an  eternity.  It  seemed  to  Harry  as 
if  he  were  growing  numb  with  waiting,  and 
he  had  wild  thoughts  of  forcing  the  attack 
with  his  primitive  weapon.  He  even  sug 
gested  it  to  Joe,  who  promptly  vetoed  the 
idea.  Their  low  voices  seemed  to  rouse  the 
dogs  and  make  them  more  uneasy,  and  they 
said  no  more.  By  and  by,  in  the  passing  of 
what  seemed  weeks,  they  began  to  hear  sounds 
from  outside.  It  was  a  low  murmuring,  which 
grew  louder  into  sounds  of  hilarity.  There 
seemed  to  be  shouts  and  laughter  and  the  rude 
music  of  tom-toms.  The  Ankuts  were  feast 
ing  in  celebration  of  the  cruel  death  which 
they  thought  might  be  already  coming  to 
their  enemies.  About  this  time  both  pricked 
up  their  ears  with  a  vague  feeling  of  hope. 


266  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Somebody  or  something  was  scratching  and 
working  at  the  wall  of  the  igloo  outside, — 
the  wall  directly  behind  them  and  toward  the 
low  bluffs  that  rimmed  the  little  valley.  The 
change  from  dull  expectation  of  calamity  to 
a  thought  of  hope  sent  a  thrill  of  energy 
through  each.  Yet  there  was  renewed  danger 
in  it,  too,  for  the  sound  roused  the  wolf  dogs, 
and  made  them  more  restless.  They  began 
to  growl  and  move  uneasily  about.  It  was  an 
ominous  moment.  Then  there  was  the  scrap 
ing  of  a  stone,  and  a  bar  of  light  shone  into 
the  gloom  of  the  igloo,  bringing  with  it  a 
voice,  —  the  voice  of  Harluk.  It  was  tremu 
lous  with  excitement  and  apprehension. 

"  Oh,  my  brothers,"  it  cried,  "  are  you 
there?" 

"  Yes,  yes,"  answered  Joe.  "  Quick  !  Some 
thing  to  fight  with." 

The  need  was  indeed  great,  for  the  six  wolf 
dogs  were  already  crouching  and  snarling. 
Another  moment  would  bring  the  conflict 
which  they  so  feared.  Quick  as  a  wink 
Harluk's  hand  was  thrust  through  the  aper 
ture  with  his  sheevee,  his  long  knife,  in  it. 
Joe  snatched  this  with  a  cry  of  delight.  It 
was  long,  heavy,  and  keen,  —  an  admirable 
weapon  for  a  fight  to  the  death  at  close  quar- 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S  HEAD  267 

ters.  The  flash  of  this  knife  in  their  faces 
had  its  effect  on  the  pack.  They  drew  back 
and  hesitated.  In  their  lives  they  had  learned 
well  the  prowess  of  a  man  with  a  weapon  in 
his  hands ;  and  the  wolf  dog  of  the  tribes  is 
as  wise  as  he  is  fearless. 

Joe  took  a  single  step,  coolly,  toward  them. 
"  Help  Harluk,"  he  said  briefly  to  Harry ; 
"  I  '11  keep  these  devils  at  bay.  But  for  God's 
sake,  hurry !  " 

There  was  no  need  of  this  admonition. 
Harluk  and  Harry  pried  and  tugged  desper 
ately  at  the  stones.  They  came  slowly,  but 
surely.  The  pack  were  bounding  over  one 
another  now  on  the  far  side  of  the  igloo, 
lashing  themselves  into  a  fury  of  onslaught. 

"  Quick,  my  brothers  !  "  cried  Harluk.  « It 
is  big  enough." 

Harry  looked  at  Joe.  Moments  were  pre 
cious,  yet  still  the  pack  hesitated,  awed  partly 
by  the  flash  of  the  big  knife,  partly  by  his 
cool  and  constant  gaze.  "  Go  !  "  cried  Joe. 
"  I  '11  follow  you." 

Harry  plunged  through  the  narrow  opening 
with  a  great  thrill  of  delight  as  he  felt  himself 
in  the  outer  air.  As  he  disappeared  from  the 
igloo,  the  pack  surged  forward,  but  Joe  had 
been  waiting  for  this.  He  met  the  foremost 


268  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

with  a  reach  of  the  long  knife  full  in  the 
breast.  With  a  howl  of  pain  that  was  his 
death  cry,  the  brute  turned,  biting  the  animal 
next  to  him  in  his  agony,  and  starting  a  fight 
among  themselves,  which  took  their  attention 
from  Joe  for  a  moment.  Deftly  and  quickly 
he  backed  through  the  opening,  keeping  his 
eye  upon  the  whirling  pack,  and  holding  the 
bloody  knife  still  in  readiness  for  instant  use. 
A  moment  and  he  was  safe  outside,  where 
he  found  Harluk  and  Harry,  each  with  a  rifle 
cocked  and  ready  in  his  defense. 

Without  a  word  Harluk  passed  his  rifle  to 
Joe  and  hurriedly  thrust  the  stones  back  into 
the  wall  of  the  igloo,  shutting  in  the  strug 
gling  and  bloody  pack.  They  were  safe  from 
this  danger,  but  outside  a  new  one  menaced 
them.  The  hilarity  among  the  dozen  well- 
armed  Ankuts  was  rapidly  approaching  a 
state  of  frenzy.  A  chief  item  of  their  feast 
was  a  peculiar  liquor  made  by  steeping  toad 
stools  in  water,  which  produces  what  is  known 
to  the  whalers  as  a  "  toadstool  drunk."  This 
potion  first  induces  an  ordinary  sort  of  in 
toxication,  but  this  soon  passes  into  a  sort 
of  fury,  in  which  its  victims  seem  possessed 
with  a  demoniacal  strength  and  ferocity. 
Under  its  influence  the  Ankuts  were  far  more 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S   HEAD    2C9 

to  be  feared  than  before.  Hiding  behind  the 
igloo,  the  three  watched  them  carefully.  As 
yet  they  had  no  suspicion  that  their  prison 
ers  were  escaping,  and  after  a  little  Harluk 
touched  each  of  his  friends.  "  Come,"  he 
said  quietly,  and  they  followed  where  he  led. 
To  make  the  situation  clear,  we  must  go 
back  to  Harluk's  previous  movements.  He 
had  followed  the  band  of  Ankuts  warily  on 
their  way  to  the  stronghold  with  their  prison 
ers.  Not  once  had  he  lost  sight  of  them,  not 
once  had  they  suspected  that  he  followed. 
He  had  not  been  sure,  however,  in  which 
igloo  the  boys  were  confined  until  he  had 
seen  them  taken  out  for  the  trial  and  then 
escorted  again  to  the  prison.  He  had  seen 
the  wolf  dogs  shut  in  with  them,  and  knew 
that  he  must  act  at  once  if  he  would  rescue 
them.  The  beginning  of  the  Ankut  feast  had 

o  o 

favored  this,  as  well  as  the  lay  of  the  land. 
From  the  low  bluffs  a  narrow  ridge  ran  down 
nearly  to  the  igloo.  This  gave  him  shelter 
in  his  approach,  and  it  was  behind  this  that 
he  led  the  boys  away  from  the  igloo,  but 
only  for  a  little  way.  Then,  still  sheltered 
by  the  intervening  rise  of  ground,  he  turned 
and  led  them  down  to  the  bank  of  the  stream 
of  warm  water,  just  where  it  emptied  into  the 


270  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

larger  river.  Here  was  an  umiak,  turned  bot 
tom  side  up  on  the  bank,  with  a  couple  of 
paddles  beside  it.  As  they  stooped  to  lift 
this  umiak  into  the  water,  there  was  a  wild 
howl  from  the  direction  of  the  village. 

"  Hurry,  my  brothers  !  "  cried  Harluk ; 
"  they  are  coming." 

There  was  now  a  tremendous  uproar,  and 
the  Ankuts  were  seen  tearing  down  the  slope 
toward  them  at  full  speed.  They  hurriedly 
pushed  off,  and  Joe  and  Harluk  seized  pad 
dles  and  sent  the  light  boat  spinning  out  into 
the  stream.  There  was  the  sound  of  shots 
and  the  spattering  of  bullets  around  them  as 
they  did  so.  The  Ankuts  had  opened  fire. 
Harry  reached  for  a  rifle  and  Joe  nodded  to 
him. 

"  See  if  you  can't  stop  some  of  that,"  he 
said.  "  Plug  that  white-faced  one,  if  you  can." 

Harry  hesitated  a  second.  He  had  never 
before  attempted  the  life  of  a  fellow  creature. 
Then  something  stung  his  left  arm.  One  of 
the  Eskimo  shots  had  grazed  him.  His  hesi 
tation  vanished  in  a  second,  and  he  fired 
coolly  at  the  foremost  Ankut.  The  man 
stumbled  and  fell  headlong. 

"  Good  !  "  cried  Joe.  "  You  poked  him. 
Give  'em  another." 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S  HEAD    271 

Again  Harry  fired,  and  another  Ankut 
spun  round  like  a  top  and  rolled  in  a  heap. 
Had  not  the  toadstool  poison  been  working  in 
the  Ankut  veins,  they  would  have  been  more 
cautious,  and  it  would  no  doubt  have  gone 
hard  with  the  three,  but  in  their  drunken 
frenzy  the  wizards  came  right  on,  firing  a  wild 
fusillade  and  yelling  at  the  top  of  their  lungs. 
They  ran  faster  than  Joe  and  Harluk  could 
paddle,  and  drew  steadily  nearer.  Two  shots 
pierced  the  skin  boat,  and  the  water  began  to 
come  into  it.  Joe  laid  down  his  paddle  and 
took  up  the  other  rifle. 

"  We  '11  fight  it  out  right  here,"  he  said. 

The  interchange  of  shots  grew  more  rapid. 
Two  more  Ankuts»fell,  and  even  their  crazy 
ferocity  began  to  waver  before  so  well-directed 
a  fire.  The  umiak  was  a  third  full  of  water 
now,  and  Harluk  turned  its  prow  back  toward 
the  shore.  There  was  an  ugly  gleam  in  Har- 
luk's  eye,  and  he  gritted  his  strong  white 
teeth  together,  and  now  and  then  snapped 
them  as  a  dog  might.  The  Ankuts  hesitated 
and  stopped.  Then  an  unexpected  thing 
happened.  Two  shots  came  from  behind 
them,  and  a  fifth  wizard  sank  to  the  ground. 

"  Nagouruk  !  "  yelled  Harluk,  in  his  own 
language.  "  Kill  some  more;  I  come !  " 


272  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

The  two  Eskimo  men  whom  Harry  and  Joe 
had  seen  treated  as  slaves  had  slipped  up  to 
the  dead  Ankuts,  taken  their  rifles,  and  joined 
the  fray.  The  Ankuts  were  bewildered. 
Drunk  as  they  were,  they  realized  that  the 
tide  was  turned  against  them.  Five  of  their 
number  were  already  dead,  and  shots  were 
coming  upon  them  from  seemingly  all  sides. 
They  wavered.  The  bow  of  the  umiak  struck 
the  bank  and  Harluk,  with  a  yell,  sprang 
from  it  and  ran  toward  the  wizards.  His 
big  knife  flashed  in  his  hand,  and  he  yelled 
in  a  berserker  rage.  The  stumbling,  sham 
bling  run  of  the  coast  native  was  no  longer 
his.  He  seemed  to  bound  like  a  panther  to 
ward  his  prey.  The  apotheosis  of  the  timid 
Eskimo  had  come,  and  he  was  a  barbaric  war 
god,  glorying  in  the  fray. 

Cowards  always  at  heart,  the  Ankuts  turned 
and  fled  across  the  tundra  toward  the  hills, 
pursued  by  shots  from  Joe's  and  Harry's  rifles 
and  those  of  the  two  village  Eskimos.  All 
but  the  white-faced  half-breed.  He  stood  his 
ground  and  reserved  his  fire  as  Harluk  ap 
proached.  His  lip  curled  in  that  evil  smile, 
and  he  leveled  his  rifle  coolly.  Harluk  was 
face  to  face  with  doom. 

Yet   he   never   hesitated,    but   leaped    on, 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD  SEAL'S  HEAD    273 

shouting  his  defiance  and  swinging  the  big 
knife,  yet  red  with  the  blood  of  the  wolf 
dog.  At  ten  feet  the  half-breed  pressed  the 
trigger.  Surely  Harluk's  amulet  was  potent 
that  day,  for  the  cartridge  failed  to  explode. 
The  half-breed  cursed,  snatched  at  the  lever, 
then  cursed  again,  for  that,  too,  failed  to 
work.  The  cartridge  was  jammed.  Then  he 
clubbed  the  rifle  and  swung  it  full  at  Har 
luk's  head.  The  Eskimo  yelled  derisively, 
ducked,  and  sent  the  big  knife  home  to  the 
heart  of  the  chief  of  the  Ankuts.  His  blood 
mingled  with  that  of  the  wolf  dog  that  had 
been  less  fierce  and  vindictive  than  he. 

A  moment  Harluk  stood  over  him  with  the 
dripping  knife  in  hand,  then  turned  with  Joe 
and  Harry  to  the  pursuit  of  the  other  An 
kuts;  but  fear  added  to  their  toadstool  frenzy 
lent  them  speed,  and  they  disappeared  over 
the  hills,  plunging  through  the  soft  tundra 
moss.  The  battle  was  over. 

Harry  sat  down  on  the  battlefield,  feeling 
faint  and  sick.  The  horror  of  carnage  was  on 
him.  True,  they  had  fought  in  self-defense, 
and  the  Ankuts  richly  deserved  death,  yet  the 
sight  of  men  slain  with  his  own  hand  filled 
him  with  remorse,  and  he  felt  for  a  time  that 
his  own  safety  was  dearly  bought.  The  sting 


274  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

in  his  arm,  unnoticed  during  the  excitement 
of  the  battle,  came  back  and  turned  his 
thoughts  away  from  this  after  a  moment.  He 
examined  it.  The  Ankut  bullet  had  cut  a  slit 
in  the  fleshy  part  and  passed  on,  doing  little 
damage.  He  bandaged  it  as  best  he  could, 
and,  though  Joe  was  solicitous,  declared  it 
was  nothing. 

The  Eskimos  came  flocking  about,  and  their 
gratitude  at  their  deliverance  was  so  great  that 
he  felt  better.  After  all,  great  good  had  surely 
come  to  these  poor  people,  and  he  felt  that 
the  traditions  of  his  nation  justified  a  war  of 
emancipation.  That  was  the  way  Joe  put  it, 
and  he  was  no  doubt  right.  They  buried  the 
dead  wizards  in  the  unfrozen  earth,  not  far 
from  the  hot  spring,  and  then  ate  a  hearty 
meal,  prepared  for  them  by  the  grateful  Es 
kimo  women. 

Not  until  then  did  they  remember  the  wolf 
dogs  shut  up  in  what  had  been  their  prison. 
Harluk  and  the  two  Eskimo  men  released 
them  from  the  igloo,  nor  did  they,  at  Joe's 
orders,  attempt  to  either  harm  or  tie  them  up. 
He  said  that  he  had  no  wish  for  revenge  on 
them,  but  he  did  not  care  to  have  such  animals 
around,  and  in  this  Harry  agreed  with  him. 
Some  time  afterward  the  two  Eskimos  re- 


THE  FEAST  OF  THE  OLD   SEAL'S  HEAD    275 

ported  to  Joe  that  the  other  dogs  had  also 
vanished.  No  doubt  they  had  joined  the  fu 
gitives,  and  the  dominant  wolf  blood  would 
again  make  a  wild  pack  of  them.  It  was 
really  a  serious  matter,  but  somehow  the  boys 
did  not  care.  They  found  the  presence  of  an 
Eskimo  dog  of  any  sort  very  distasteful  to 
them. 

For  some  days  they  waited  in  the  Ankut 
stronghold,  keeping  watch  lest  the  enemy 
return,  but  seeing  no  signs  of  them.  Harluk 
declared  that  they  probably  would  not.  They 
had  received  such  a  trouncing,  and  the  odds 
were  so  much  against  them,  that  they  would 
no  doubt  go  on  either  to  some  other  outlaw 
rendezvous,  or  else  take  up  peaceful  life  with 
some  Eskimo  community  for  a  while.  This 
is  the  way  of  the  defeated  Ankut.  And  now, 
rested  and  recuperated,  the  problem  of  further 
action  came  up,  and  was  discussed  in  a  coun 
cil  of  the  whole.  To  travel  across  the  fast 
softening  tundra  toward  Point  Hope,  without 
dogs,  was  a  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  matter, 
and  they  decided  not  to  try  it.  By  this  time 
the  ice  must  be  out  of  the  sea,  and  there  was 
a  chance  of  a  ship.  Their  wisest  course  would 
be  to  proceed  again  to  the  coast.  This  would 
not  be  difficult.  There  were  two  umiaks  at 


276  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  village.  They  patched  the  one  riddled  by 
Ankut  bullets,  and,  loading  their  belongings 
into  the  two,  the  whole  community  set  gayly 
forth  downstream.  To  the  Eskimos  who  had 
been  held  in  subjection  it  was  a  happy  deliv 
erance,  and  their  gentle  natures  brightened 
up  wonderfully  at  the  thought  of  escape. 
They  would  not  allow  either  the  boys  or 
Harluk  to  do  any  work.  They  paddled,  pre 
pared  meals,  made  camp,  and  showed  their 
gratitude  in  a  hundred  ways,  till  they  bade 
fair  to  spoil  their  deliverers. 


CHAPTER  XI 
"THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES" 

THE  sudden  summer  was  upon  the  Arctic, 
and  in  the  days  that  followed  the  boys,  in 
spite  of  their  homesickness  and  anxiety  in  re 
gard  to  the  future,  reveled  in  it.  The  tundra 
grew  green,  and  seemed  almost  in  a  night  to 
be  spangled  with  countless  flowers.  Once, 
at  camp,  Joe  wandered  back  into  a  grassy 
meadow,  and  found  Harry  there  before  him. 
Tears  were  running  down  his  cheeks,  but  they 
were  happy  tears. 

"  Look,  Joe  !  "  he  cried.  "  Come  and  see 
our  old  friend  here.  Oh,  how  good  it  is !  " 

The  meadow  was  blue  in  patches  with  myo- 
sotis,  —  forget-me-nots,  —  and  among  them  a 
yellow  bumble-bee  was  buzzing  and  bustling 
in  busy  way,  just  as  contentedly  fussy  and  self- 
important  as  he  would  have  been  among  the 
buttercups  two  thousand  miles  south.  Down 
on  his  knees  beside  this  messenger  went  Joe, 
with  tears  in  his  own  eyes  and  thoughts  of 
the  Nantucket  meadows  of  his  childhood. 


278  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  And  oh  !  "  cried  Joe.  "  Here  's  another 
one.  See  !  "  This  other  one  was  a  little  brown 
butterfly  that  flitted  gayly  along  in  the  warm 
breeze.  Thus  the  two  worshiped  these  spir 
its  of  sunshine,  translated  to  their  desolate 
northern  wilderness  for  its  brief  summer  festi 
val.  The  snow-buntings  and  Arctic  sparrows, 
already  happy  with  nests  and  eggs,  sang  rap 
turously,  and  the  ground  squirrels  sat  at  the 
mouths  of  their  burrows  and  wrinkled  their 
rat-like  noses  at  the  voyagers.  It  was  a  happy 
season,  coming  so  soon  after  struggle,  death, 
and  disaster.  The  Eskimo  boys  and  girls  had 
lost  that  look  of  stolid  misery  which  their 
life  under  the  rule  of  the  highbinders  had 
given  them,  and  blossomed  into  joyous,  play 
ful  children.  Even  the  river  seemed  to  dance 
and  dimple  along  its  shallows. 

Perhaps  the  daintiest  spirit,  the  most  chastely 
exquisite  creature  of  the  whole  Arctic  summer, 
is  the  little  bird  known  to  the  naturalists  as 
the  hyperborean  snowflake.  Verily,  a  snow- 
flake  it  is  as  it  flits  through  the  rosy  glow  of 
misty  mornings  over  the  tundra  bog  so  richly 
carpeted  with  purple,  yellow,  and  white.  Here, 
in  a  fairy  garden,  grow  the  purple  primrose, 
the  golden  cowslip,  and  the  white-cupped 
dryas,  and  here  flits  and  sings  its  dainty 


THE  VILLAGE   WHERE   NO   ONE  LIVES    279 

song  the  snowflake  bird.  Its  plumage  is  as 
pure  as  a  newly  opened  lily,  the  spotless  white 
showing  more  perfectly  by  contrast  with  the 
jet-black  bill  and  wing  tips.  At  the  edge  of 
its  snowy  tail  are  two  black  dots.  All  else 
is  a  fluttering  flake  of  purest  snow,  and  it 
seemed  to  the  boys  as  if  in  it  summer  had 
transformed  the  frost-flakes  into  a  living, 
breathing  spirit  of  melody. 

Thus  for  many  days  they  glided  along  the 
placid  shallows  of  this  winding  river,  content 
in  freedom,  sunshine,  and  bits  of  summer,  that 
reminded  them  of  home.  Yet  by  and  by 
Harry  became  uneasy. 

"  Joe,"  he  said  one  day,  "  it  seems  to  me 
we  have  traveled  far  enough  to  reach  the  sea. 
Where  do  you  suppose  this  river  empties? 
Its  course  winds  so  that  it  is  hard  to  say  just 
which  way  it  carries  us,  though,  to  be  sure,  the 
general  direction  is  northerly,  but  don't  you 
think  it  is  pretty  well  to  the  east  of  north  ?  " 

"  That 's  what  is  worrying  me,"  confessed 
Joe.  "  In  the  nature  of  things  we  must 
come  out  north  of  our  old  camp  at  Icy  Cape, 
but  I  had  hoped  for  no  great  distance  north 
of  that.  Yet  no  man  knows  what  river's  head 
waters  we  struck.  I  hope  it  is  not  the  Col- 
ville.  That  would  land  us  a  couple  of  hun- 


280  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

dred  miles  to  the  east  of  Point  Barrow,  and 
unless  we  had  phenomenal  luck  we  'd  have  to 
winter  up  here  again." 

"  I  would  n't  do  it,"  cried  Harry  hotly. 
"  I  'd  sooner  turn  and  tramp  south  across  the 
tundra.  We  'd  at  least  be  headed  toward 
home,  and  every  mile  we  made  would  be  sure 
gain." 

Thus  anxiety  came  to  them  again,  and  they 
began  to  watch  with  care  the  general  direction 
in  which  they  were  floating.  It  proved  to  be, 
as  near  as  they  could  guess,  northeast. 

"  This  won't  do,"  said  Joe,  "  northeast  is 
the  trend  of  the  coast  up  here ;  we  're  not  get 
ting  much  nearer  the  sea.  However,  we'll 
hold  on  a  few  days  longer." 

Neither  Harluk  nor  the  other  Eskimos 
could  help  their  knowledge  of  the  river.  The 
Eskimo  knows  the  coast  well  and  the  streams 
for  a  few  miles  back  of  it.  Beyond  that,  ex 
cept  in  particular  instances,  the  land  is  un 
known  to  him.  After  another  week,  and  just 
as  they  were  about  decided  to  camp  and 
make  a  land  reconnoissance  to  the  westward, 
their  stream  took  a  turn  to  the  northwest  and 
they  paddled  on  merrily.  The  course  lay 
through  low  bluffs  that  bordered  the  river  on 
either  hand,  and  in  these  bluffs,  one  day,  Harry 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO   ONE  LIVES    281 

noted  strata  of  dark  stone.  They  landed, 
out  of  curiosity,  and  examined  these  black 
veins. 

"  Why,  it 's  coal !  "  exclaimed  Harry  in 
astonishment ;  and  so  it  was,  —  a  sort  of  semi- 
bituminous  coal  that  is  not  so  very  different 
from  cannel  coal.  The  low  bluffs  were  full 
of  it  in  veins  varying  from  a  few  inches  wide 
to  eight  or  ten  feet.  There  was  enough  coal 
in  sight  to  supply  a  city,  with  the  promise  of 
countless  thousand  tons  in  the  veins  beneath 
the  surface.  "  Coal,"  he  explained  to  Harluk 
and  the  other  Eskimos  who  had  gathered 
about  them,  much  interested  by  their  enthu 
siasm,  "  to  burn,  makes  fire,  like  wood." 

At  this  the  men  of  the  ice  shook  their 
heads  incredulously.  It  was  time  for  the  mid 
day  meal,  and  Harry  essayed  to  show  them 
that  he  was  right.  He  built  a  good  fire  of 
willow  wood  and  piled  bits  of  the  black  stones 
on  it,  but  it  would  not  ignite  that  way,  and 
his  Eskimo  friends  wagged  their  heads  and 
murmured  "  Kuko  willow,"  which  is  an  Eskimo 
word  which  may  be  freely  translated  "  big 
fool."  Here  Joe  came  to  his  rescue.  He 
carefully  built  a  cylindrical  oven  of  the  larger 
blocks  that  had  fallen  from  the  bluff,  and 
started  a  snapping  wood  fire  in  it.  Little  by 


282  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

little  he  added  fine  coal  to  this,  and  was  soon 
gratified  to  find  it  ignited.  The  Eskimos 
looked  on,  with  smiling  incredulity  at  first, 
then  with  wonder,  but  as  the  fire  grew  and  be 
gan  to  consume  the  oven  itself,  they  calmly 
withdrew  from  the  burning  black  stones.  It 
was  magic,  and  the  stones  did  not  really  burn. 
Joe  had  only  made  them  think  so.  Harluk 
knew  he  was  a  great  wizard.  He  had  seen 
his  performances  at  Icy  Cape,  and  this  was 
another  one.  It  was  all  very  well  for  wizards 
to  burn  stones,  but  the  Eskimos  knew  better 
than  to  try  it. 

This  was  the  Eskimo  solution  of  the  matter. 
The  coal  measures  of  northern  Alaska  extend 
from  the  coast  near  Cape  Lisburne  eastward 
far  into  the  interior.  The  rivers  that  run 
to  the  sea  cut  through  them  and  expose  vast 
quantities  of  the  precious  fuel.  On  the  sea 
shore  at  Cape  Sabine  the  coal  falls  from  the 
bluffs  under  the  action  of  the  frost,  and  may 
be  picked  up  by  the  ton.  With  a  little  in 
genuity  this  coal  may  be  made  to  burn  and 
give  heat  even  by  very  primitive  methods,  yet 
the  tribes  freeze,  and  eat  uncooked  food,  with 
these  vast  reservoirs  of  warmth  untouched 
beneath  their  feet.  They  have  seen  it  burn 
in  the  stoves  and  under  the  boilers  of  the 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE   NO   ONE  LIVES    283 

whaleships,  yet  they  take  no  advantage  of  it. 
Some  have  tried  to  burn  it  in  the  open,  and 
failing,  were  convinced  that  only  the  white 
man's  magic  could  make  use  of  it.  Others 

o 

have  found  heat  enough  in  blubber  and  drift 
wood  or  willow  twigs,  and  do  not  care  to  try 
to  utilize  the  more  difficult  fuel. 

Some  days  later,  they  found  their  little  river 
flowing  gently  into  an  arm  of  the  sea  which 
Joe,  climbing  a  bluff  and  taking  a  survey, 
declared  to  be  Wainwright  Inlet.  Harluk, 
too,  recognized  the  place,  and  said  that  the 
river  which  they  had  traversed  was  the  Koo 
of  the  tribes.  Just  north  of  them  was  Point 
Belcher,  and  Harluk  pointed  out,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  inlet,  a  place  which  he  called 
"  Nunaria,"  otherwise  "  The  Village  where 
No  One  Lives." 

The  story  of  this  "  Village  where  No  One 
Lives,"  of  the  events  which  led  up  to  its  set 
tlement  and  abandonment,  is  one  of  the  most 
extraordinary  which  the  Arctic  has  yet  re 
vealed.  The  annals  of  New  Bedford  whaling 
contain  the  first  part  of  it.  The  traditions 
of  the  coast  tribes  reveal  the  latter  part,  the 
wild  and  tragic  sequel.  These  last  Harluk 
knew  well,  for  the  tale  has  come  to  be  an 
epic,  related  about  the  blubber  lamp  during 


284  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  winter  night,  when  the  bitter  wind  blows 
without,  and  the  Nunatak  people  are  abroad 
and  shout  down  the  smoke-hole. 

This  is  the  story  compiled  from  both 
sources :  — 

In  the  summer  of  1871,  forty  or  more 
splendid  ships,  the  pick  of  the  New  Bedford 
fleet,  were  following  the  whales  along  this  ice 
bound  coast.  The  pursuit  had  been  one  of 
more  than  common  difficulty.  The  ice  was 
everywhere,  and  again  and  again,  even  in 
midsummer,  the  ships  had  been  in  great  dan 
ger  from  it.  Boats  were  crushed  by  the 
shifting  floes,  and  before  September  was  fairly 
in,  three  staunch  ships,  the  brig  Comet,  the 
barks  Roman  and  Ashawonks,  had  been 
wrecked  and  their  crews  transferred  to  other 
vessels.  The  season  was  at  an  end,  and  the 
situation  of  the  remaining  ships  one  of  grave 
peril,  for  the  ice  was  closing  rapidly  around 
them  and  it  seemed  impossible  to  work  out 
of  it.  There  were  not  provisions  enough  to 
winter  the  crews,  and  frequent  and  serious 
consultations  were  held  by  the  captains.  By 
way  of  precaution,  men  were  set  to  work  build 
ing  up  the  gunwales  of  the  boats  that  they 
might  better  resist  the  waves,  and  they  were 
sheathed  with  copper  to  keep  the  ice  from 


THE   VILLAGE   WHERE  NO   ONE   LIVES    285 

harming  them.  An  expedition  of  three  boats 
was  now  sent  down  the  coast  to  see  how  far 
the  ice  extended.  This  returned  and  reported 
that  it  was  utterly  impracticable  to  get  any 
of  the  main  fleet  out ;  that  the  Arctic  and 
another  vessel  were  in  clear  water  below  the 
fields  which  extended  to  the  south  of  Blossom 
Shoals,  eighty  miles  below  the  imprisoned 
crafts ;  and  that  five  more  vessels,  now  fast 
in  this  lower  ice,  were  likely  to  get  out  soon. 
The  leader  also  reported,  what  every  man 
knew,  that  these  free  vessels  would  lie  by  and 
wait  to  aid  their  imprisoned  comrades.  It  is 
a  part  of  the  whaleman's  creed  to  stand  by 
his  mates.  To  remain  with  the  imprisoned 
ships  was  to  perish  with  them,  and  they  de 
cided  to  abandon  them. 

It  was  a  sad  day.  The  signals  for  departure, 
—  flags  at  the  masthead,  union  down,  —  were 
set,  and  with  heavy  hearts  they  entered  their 
boats  and  pulled  away,  a  mournful  flotilla. 
Women  and  children,  families  of  the  captains, 
were  there,  and  the  keen  north  wind  blew  over 
the  frozen  sea,  chilling  the  unfortunate  fugi 
tives  to  the  marrow.  At  night  they  camped 
on  the  beach,  turning  the  boats  bottom  up 
ward  and  covering  them  with  sails,  making 
a  comfortable  refuge  for  the  women  and  chil- 


286  THE   YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

dren.     The  rest  found  shelter  as  best  they 
might. 

"  On  the  second  day  out/'  says  one  who 
took  part  in  the  expedition,  "  the  boats 
reached  Blossom  Shoals,  and  there  spied  the 
rescue  vessels  lying  five  miles  out  from  the 
shore  and  behind  a  long  tongue  of  ice  that 
stretched  like  a  great  peninsula  ten  miles 
farther  down  the  coast.  Around  this  point 
they  were  obliged  to  pull  before  they  could 
get  aboard.  The  wind  blew  a  gale,  the  sea 
threatened  the  little  crafts  with  instant  anni 
hilation,  but  still  the  hazardous  journey  must 
be  performed,  and  there  was  no  time  to  be 
lost  in  setting  about  it.  The  boats  started 
on  their  almost  hopeless  voyage,  the  women 
and  children  stifling  their  fears  as  best  they 
could.  On  rounding  this  tongue  of  ice,  they 
encountered  the  full  force  of  the  southwest 
gale,  and  a  sea  that  would  have  made  the 
stoutest  ship  tremble.  In  this  fearful  sea 
the  whaleboats  were  tossed  about  like  corks. 
They  shipped  quantities  of  water  from  every 
wave  that  struck  them,  and  all  hands  bailing 
could  hardly  keep  them  afloat.  Everybody 
was  soaked  with  freezing  brine,  and  all  the 
bread  and  flour  aboard  was  spoiled.  The 
strength  of  the  gale  was  such  that  the  Arctic, 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES    287 

after  getting  her  portion  of  the  refugees 
aboard,  parted  her  cable  and  lost  her  port 
anchor,  but  brought  up  again  with  the  star 
board  one,  which  held  until  the  little  fleet  was 
ready  to  sail.  By  the  second  day  all  were 
distributed  among  the  seven  vessels,  from  two 
to  three  hundred  souls  each,  —  a  total  of  1219 
refugees.  They  set  sail,  and  reached  Hono 
lulu  in  safety." 

Thirty-four  staunch  vessels  were  thus  aban 
doned  to  their  fate,  and  only  one,  The  Mi 
nerva,  was  released  in  safety  the  next  summer 
from  the  grip  of  the  frost  king.  More  than 
a  million  dollars  was  abandoned  to  the  ice  and 
the  Eskimos,  and  ruin  brought  home  to  many 
a  fine  old  New  Bedford  shipping  concern. 

The  sullen  winter  set  in.  The  ice  closed 
rigidly  about  the  doomed  ships  scattered  along 
the  coast  from  Point  Belcher  to  Blossom  Shoals, 
and  a  wild  carnival  of  loot  began  for  the  na 
tives  of  the  north  coast.  News  seems  to  spread 
in  strange  ways  in  the  Arctic.  The  Eskimo 
tells  much,  yet  he  learns  more  by  the  observa 
tion  of  his  fellows.  Most  of  all,  however,  he 
seems  to  have  an  instinct  which  is  more  sub 
tle  still ;  and  the  tribes  learned  the  news  in  all 
these  ways.  To  the  place  of  great  riches  trav 
eled  all  who  had  the  means  of  travel.  From 


288  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  bleak  coast  east  to  the  mouth  of  the  Mac 
kenzie,  from  the  sandy  peninsula  of  Point  Hope 
and  from  points  between,  each  community  saw 
another  pack  up  and  move,  and  hitched  up 
their  dogs  and  followed,  knowing  well  that 
the  prize  for  such  a  journey  at  such  a  time  of 
year  must  be  great,  else  it  would  not  be  at 
tempted.  By  the  time  the  winter  sun  ceases 
to  rise  in  the  southward,  but  merely  lights  the 
southern  sky  with  a  rosy  glow  at  what  should 
be  noon,  three  thousand  Eskimos  had  assem 
bled  and  begun  to  build  the  greatest  Eskimo 
village  known  to  history. 

The  skin  topeks  were  set  up.  Caves  in  the 
bluff  became  dwellings.  Where  the  wind  had 
swept  the  ledges  bare,  they  quarried  rough 
stone  and  built  igloos  of  these,  chinked  with 
reindeer  moss  and  banked  with  snow  for 
warmth.  Many  of  them,  too,  began  to  dis 
mantle  the  ships  and  build  rude  cabins  of  the 
wood  and  sails.  Such  were  the  nondescript 
abodes  of  the  new  village,  and  here  they  set 
tled  down  in  the  darkness  and  terrible  cold 
of  the  Arctic  midnight,  content,  for  near  at 
hand  were  provisions  and  loot  such  as  had 
never  been  dreamed  of  in  the  wildest  flights 
of  Eskimo  imagination.  The  looting  went  on 
continuously  and  peacefully,  at  first,  for  there 


THE  VILLAGE   WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES    289 

was  more  than  enough  for  all.  The  village  be 
came  crowded  with  cabin  fittings,  wrecked  deck 
houses,  spars,  ropes,  sails,  and  all  the  metallic 
paraphernalia  of  a  full-rigged  ship.  In  the 
holds  they  broke  into  the  flour  barrels  and 
scattered  the  contents  about  in  willful  play, 
for  they  knew  nothing  of  the  value  of  flour. 
Hard  bread  they  prized,  but  flour  was  then  to 
them  a  thing  of  no  meaning,  and  there  are 
aged  Eskimos  alive  to  this  day  who  will  tell 
with  sorrow  how  they  wasted  the  precious 
stuff,  throwing  it  at  one  another  and  setting 
it  adrift  down  the  wind  in  glee. 

The  ivory,  they  prized,  the  oil,  and  espe 
cially  the  whalebone,  which  they  eagerly  appro 
priated  and  took  ashore,  hiding  much  of  it  as 
well  as  they  could  from  one  another.  Later, 
when  all  had  been  taken  from  the  ships  and 
trouble  and  distrust  had  come,  the  villagers 
began  looting  from  each  other. 

But  at  first  all  went  well.  With  plenty  of  the 
prized  hard-tack,  with  meat  in  barrels,  with  oil 
in  great  profusion,  and  wood  and  iron  galore, 
it  seemed  as  if  the  Eskimo  millennium  was  at 
hand,  and  that  the  tribes  might  live  in  peace 
and  plenty  here  for  a  long  time  to  come  and  — 
who  knows  ?  —  out  of  their  prosperity  found 
a  permanent  city  and  develop  a  higher  scheme 


290  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

of  Eskimo  civilization  than  they  had  hitherto 
known.  Yet  it  was  not  to  be,  and  the  very 
plenty  that  might  have  been  their  upbuilding 
became  their  undoing.  The  serpent  of  envy 
entered  their  below-zero  Eden,  and  set  tribe 
against  tribe  and  family  against  family.  Men 
began  to  quarrel  over  articles  of  loot  aboard 
ship.  There  was  not  room  to  stow  their  wealth 
in  the  igloos,  and  the  women  and  children 
fought  over  what  was  outside. 

The  supply  of  liquor  had  been  in  the  main 
destroyed,  but  on  one  or  two  ships  this  had 
been  overlooked  in  the  haste  of  leaving,  and 
after  a  time  it  was  discovered.  It  was  not  very 
much  among  three  thousand  Eskimos,  but  a 
little  liquor  goes  a  long  way  among  these  hardy 
men  of  the  north,  and  once  this  began  to  get 
in  its  work  among  them,  no  man  can  describe 
the  extraordinary  scenes  which  ensued.  Tri 
bal  animosity  which  had  been  dulled  by  plenty 
and  a  common  object  grew  keen  again,  and 
the  men  of  one  village  fought  with  those  of 
another  until  sometimes  a  whole  tribe  was 
wiped  out.  As  the  wild  orgy  increased  and 
the  supply  of  liquor  gave  out,  they  broke  into 
the  ships'  medicine  chests,  and  tinctures  and 
solutions  of  deadly  drugs  were  used  with  fatal 
effect. 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE   NO  ONE  LIVES    291 

The  horror  lasted  until  the  spring  sun  was 
well  above  the  southern  horizon,  and  scarcely 
half  the  people  of  the  new  city  were  left  to  see 
him  rise.  These  were  half-clad,  and  emaci 
ated  by  the  terrible  deeds  and  mishaps  of  the 
winter.  The  dogs,  neglected  and  unfed,  had 
gone  "molokully"  —  crazy  —  with  the  cold 
and  hunger,  and  were  roaming  the  waste  of 
snow,  or  were  mercifully  dead.  The  remnant 
of  the  people  had  no  means  and  were  in  no 
condition  to  travel,  yet  travel  they  must.  The 
daze  of  their  orgy  was  over,  and  the  place  was 
become  a  place  of  horrors  to  them.  Dead  lay 
in  every  igloo,  and  in  Eskimo  land  an  igloo  in 
which  some  one  has  died  is  henceforth  a  place 
of  evil,  and  no  man  must  take  shelter  there. 

There  were  no  doubt  stores  and  material 
enough  left  in  and  about  the  vessels  that  were 
unburned  to  support  the  people  remaining  in 
comfort  for  a  long  time  to  come,  and  could 
they  have  had  a  chance  to  recuperate,  they 
still  might  have  made  a  village  unique  in  size 
and  prosperity,  but  they  would  have  none 
of  it. 

Silently  and  in  terror  the  remnant  of  the 
tribes  scattered  and  hastened  to  their  former 
homes,  but  only  a  part  ever  reached  them. 
Sick  and  emaciated,  their  dogs  dead  or  scat- 


292  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

tered,  the  journey  was  one  of  hardship  long  to 
be  remembered,  and  the  miles  were  marked 
with  the  bones  of  those  that  fell  by  the  way. 

This  is  the  story  of  "  Nunaria,"  a  place  of 
ghosts  and  of  the  dead.  To  this  day  no  Es 
kimo  will  willingly  enter  its  precincts.  The 
ice  and  gales  of  winter,  the  frosts  and  thaws 
of  spring,  the  deluges  of  rain  and  the  grass  of 
summer,  work  hard  to  obliterate  it,  yet  still  it 
may  be  found,  and  its  ruin  tells  the  tale  of  one 
brief  winter  of  too  much  plenty,  and  the  evil 
effect  of  a  sudden  plethora  of  the  good  things 
of  civilization  and  city  life  on  the  Innuit. 
With  him,  as  with  the  rest  of  us,  self-control 
is  not  easily  learned  where  abstemiousness  is 
continually  forced.  It  takes  a  far  greater 
man  to  stand  sudden  great  prosperity  than  it 
does  to  survive  lean  years  and  narrow  oppor 
tunities.  Harluk  expressed  this  in  one  brief 
Eskimo  phrase.  "  Amalucktu  amalucktu,  pe- 
luk,"  he  said.  "  Too  much  plenty  is  no  good." 

There  is  a  brief  sequel  to  the  story.  The 
next  spring  an  enterprising  trader  brought  up 
in  his  ship  a  three-holed  bidarka  from  Una- 
laska.  When  the  ship  was  stopped  by  the 
ice,  he  manned  the  bidarka,  and  went  on, 
paddled  by  two  men.  He  reached  the  village 
of  death  through  the  narrow  leads  opening 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES    293 

in  the  pack.  Here  he  found  no  living  thing 
save  the  foxes  and  crows  making  revel  among 
the  bodies  of  the  dead.  But  he  found  much 
store  of  whalebone  and  ivory,  —  so  much  that 
he  reaped  a  harvest  and  was  able  to  visit  the 
capitals  of  Europe  in  the  style  of  a  bonanza 
king.  Yet,  after  all,  what  he  got  was  not  the 
half  of  the  store  the  ships  had  accumulated 
during  their  summer  cruise.  What  had  be 
come  of  the  balance  ?  Let  us  see. 

Harluk  would  not  join  Harry  and  Joe  in 
their  exploration  of  Nunaria.  It  sufficed  for 
him  to  point  it  out  from  the  bluff  opposite. 
They  set  out  alone.  Strange  sights  met  their 
eyes  in  this  village.  Traces  of  former  topeks 
could  be  found  here  and  there  by  the  white 
bones,  which  showed  in  the  grass.  Others 
built  of  stone  had  partly  fallen  in,  but  still 
in  part  retained  their  shape.  From  one  of 
these  a  white  fox  bounded,  and,  on  looking 
within,  they  found  a  litter  of  young  foxes 
snuggled  within  the  remnants  of  some  ancient 
fur  garments,  among  the  bones  of  the  man 
that  had  worn  them.  Here  an  arm  bone  was 
stretched  out  through  the  tundra  grass,  as  if 
reaching  up  for  aid.  There  a  white  skull 
grinned  at  them  from  the  dark  corner  of  a 
tumbled  heap  of  rocks  which  had  been  a 


294  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

home  of  the  ancient  village.  They  found  the 
brass  cover  of  a  ship's  binnacle  over  the  ashes 
of  a  long -abandoned  fire.  The  dark  and 
mouldy  remnants  of  an  uneaten  meal  were  in 
this  strange  pot,  showing  to  what  base  uses 
the  tribes  had  put  the  ship's  instruments. 
Scattered  about  in  inconceivable  confusion 
that  time  could  not  obliterate  were  the  useless 
fragments  of  the  loot  of  the  ships,  —  rotten 
ropes,  decayed  canvas,  rusty  iron,  blocks,  and 
wooden  wreckage  of  all  sorts,  grown  with 
tundra  moss,  half  buried  in  waving  grass,  yet 
visible  still  in  dismal  disorder.  There  were 
many  spots,  very  many,  where  this  grass  was 
longer  and  greener  than  the  rest,  and  they 
knew  that  underneath  were  the  bones  of  the 
dead  of  that  dread  winter  of  too  much  plenty. 

In  one  of  the  igloos  they  found  a  couple  of 
splendid  walrus  tusks,  half  hidden  in  a  cor 
ner,  and  in  two  others  single  slabs  of  whale 
bone,  still  but  little  harmed  by  the  weather 
and  the  passage  of  time. 

"  Queer  there  is  n't  more  of  this  stuff,"  said 
Harry,  as  he  kicked  out  the  slab  of  whalebone 
from  the  dark  and  grewsome  hole. 

"I  don't  think  so,"  replied  Joe.  "Of 
course  the  traders  and  whalemen  knew  of  the 
place  and  carried  off  all  they  could  find. 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES    295 

They  never  got  half  that  was  on  the  ships, 
though.  I  imagine  the  natives  never  brought 
it  off,  but  that  it  was  burned  or  sunk  with 
the  vessels." 

"  Hum,"  said  Harry.  "  But  it  might  pay 
us  to  look  pretty  closely." 

Joe  looked  at  him  with  a  new  thought  in 
his  eye.  "  Do  you  think  so  ?  "  he  said,  medi 
tatively. 

"Why  not?"  asked  Harry  in  reply,  and 
they  continued  their  search.  Yet  they  found 
nothing  more  of  value  among  the  igloos  or 
on  the  tundra.  It  was  after  they  had  given 
up  the  search  and  were  on  their  way  back 
along  the  low  bluff  that  they  made  a  further 
discovery. 

"  Harluk  told  about  part  of  the  village  that 
lived  in  what  he  called  a  '  kitekook.'  What 
sort  of  an  igloo  is  that  ?  " 

"  That 's  so,"  replied  Joe ;  "  I  had  forgot 
ten.  Why, '  kitekook '  is  the  Point  Hope  word 
for  cave.  We  have  n  't  seen  any  caves  yet. 
They  would  be  in  the  bluff,  seems  to  me." 

For  a  long  time  they  searched  the  bluff 
without  finding  anything.  The  disintegrat 
ing  forces  of  frost  and  thaw  each  spring 
change  the  face  of  all  Arctic  cliffs.  Crumbled 
by  the  frost  and  torn  off  by  the  water,  the 


296  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

warm  weather  often  brings  the  fronts  down  in 
little  landslides.  The  streams  gully  through 
them  and  cut  them  away  so  that  the  face  of 
nature  often  changes  greatly  in  a  single  year. 
The  low  bluffs  along  the  inlet  showed  many 
marks  of  this  violence.  By  and  by  Joe, 
scrambling  along  the  debris  at  the  foot  of 
the  bluff,  gave  a  shout  to  Harry,  farther  on. 
"Here's  a  wolf's  den,  or  a  cave,  or  some 
thing,"  he  said.  "  Come  and  see  it." 

The  wolf's  den  was  a  hole  in  the  bluff,  half 
smothered  in  the  debris  which  had  fallen  and 
obscured  it.  There  was  hardly  room  to  crawl 
in,  but  Joe  managed  it,  while  Harry  waited 
outside  in  some  excitement.  In  a  moment 
Joe  called  out :  — 

"Here,"  he  said  in  a  smothered  voice; 
"take  this." 

A  splendid  slab  of  whalebone  was  passed 
up  through  the  hole.  After  a  time  Joe  fol 
lowed  it,  much  besmeared  with  dirt,  but  with 
a  radiant  face. 

"  I  think  we  've  made  a  find,  this  time,"  he 
said  excitedly.  "  That  is  one  of  the  '  kite- 
kooks,'  and  it  is  chock-a-block  with  the  finest 
bone  you  ever  saw." 

The  slab  which  he  had  passed  out  was,  in 
deed,  a  beauty,  and  was  worth  many  dollars. 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE   NO  ONE  LIVES    297 

They  proceeded  with  the  hunt  with  great  en 
thusiasm  and  found  several  other  "  kitekooks" 
well  stored  with  bone.  Joe's  eyes  snapped 
with  excitement. 

"  There 's  fifty  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
splendid  bone  stowed  right  in  this  cliff,"  he 
said,  "and  it  has  been  waiting  for  us  for 
twenty-five  years.  The  people  who  came  here 
that  summer  after  cleaned  up  what  was  in 
the  other  igloos,  but  they  never  found  this. 
Probably  there  had  been  a  landslide  that 
spring  and  blocked  the  caves.  The  Eskimos 
could  not  be  hired  to  come  here,  and  only 
they  knew  about  it.  It 's  a  bonanza  !  Hur 
rah  !  this  will  pay  for  the  loss  of  the  Bow- 
head,  twice  over." 

Harry  examined  the  five  caves  that  they 
found,  and  decided  that  Joe's  estimate  of  the 
value  of  their  find  was  a  very  conservative 
one.  To  him  it  seemed  nearly  double  that, 
and  after  excitedly  figuring  the  probable  value, 
Joe  was  inclined  to  agree  with  him.  It  was 
certain  that  they  had  found  a  fortune,  and  the 
only  question  was  as  to  how  they  might  real 
ize  on  it.  The  bone  was  worth  that  in  San 
Francisco,  to  be  sure,  but  they  were  a  long 
way  from  San  Francisco,  and  the  problem  of 
getting  there  themselves  was  still  a  great  one. 


298  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Their  great  hope  was  that  Captain  Nickerson 
would  be  on  the  coast  again  with  a  vessel  and 
would  find  them  that  summer.  They  decided 
to  keep  the  presence  of  the  bone  a  profound 
secret  even  from  Harluk  and  his  fellows. 
They  returned  to  the  camp  and  said  very  lit 
tle  about  what  they  had  seen.  Harluk  thought 
this  reasonable. 

"  None  but  wizards,"  he  declared  solemnly, 
"  might  unharmed  visit  a  place  of  ghosts,  and 
he  saw  that  they  even  were  wise  enough  not 
to  talk  about  it." 

This  find  in  the  Village  where  No  One 
Lives  kept  the  boys  chained  to  the  locality, 
much  to  the  sorrow  of  the  Eskimos,  who 
wished  to  get  farther  away  from  it.  There 
were  plenty  of  fish  in  the  inlet,  and  wild  ducks 
were  tame  and  present  in  great  flocks.  They 
lived  well,  but  they  did  not  like  to  be  so  near 
the  place  of  ghosts.  But  the  boys  were  firm. 
It  was  midsummer,  and  just  about  the  right 
time  of  year  for  ships  to  be  off  that  coast,  and 
they  did  not  wish  to  leave  their  find.  They 
decided  that  the  bone  must  stay  where  it  was 
until  they  could  take  it  out  and  place  it  on  a 
ship  of  their  own,  and  they  would  better  wait 
right  there  on  the  chance  of  such  a  ship. 
Thus  they  lingered  on,  week  after  week,  in  a 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES     290 

vain  hope.  No  ship  came.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  was  one  of  those  seasons  that  Harluk 
and  Kroo  had  predicted,  when  the  Arctic  pack 
hugs  the  coast  and  it  is  difficult  and  often 
impossible  for  ships  to  get  beyond  Blossom 
Shoals. 

All  too  soon  the  brief  summer  waned,  and 
their  hopes  waned  with  it.  While  they  hesi 
tated,  the  heavy  sea  ice  pressed  in  nearer  the 
coast  and  cut  off  any  possible  chance  of  a 
ship.  The  ducks  flew  away,  the  river  froze 
over,  and  there  was  mush  ice  all  along  the 
coast  where  the  pack  had  not  frozen  to  the 
shore.  The  cold  was  coming  on  exception 
ally  early,  and  they  were  much  dejected  over 
the  prospect.  The  wind  blew  keen  from  the 
north,  and  snow  whitened  the  once  blooming 
tundra.  The  winter  was  upon  them  before 
they  knew  it,  so  rapidly  does  it  come  in  that 
land  of  ice. 

In  the  midst  of  this  trouble  Harluk  came 
to  them  with  a  face  of  good  news. 

"  My  brothers,"  he  said,  "  good  luck  is 
surely  coming  to  us.  The  dogs  have  come 
back." 

Eight  or  ten  gaunt  dogs  were  eagerly 
snatching  at  food  that  the  Eskimos  threw  to 
them ;  then,  their  hunger  satisfied,  they  al- 


300  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

lowed  themselves  to  be  tied  up,  and  lay  down 
by  the  topek  doors  in  contentment. 

The  Eskimo  dog  grows  very  fond  of  the 
people  with  whom  he  is  brought  up,  and  never 
forgets  them,  no  matter  how  long  separated. 
Thus,  though  he  runs  away  and  sometimes 
roams  wild  over  the  tundra  for  months,  he  is 
almost  sure  finally  to  find  his  way  back  to  the 
friends  of  his  puppyhood.  It  was  what  had 
now  happened. 

Some  hours  afterward  Joe  found  Harry 
gazing  moodily  at  the  icy  sea  with  tears  in  his 
eyes.  It  was  not  the  cutting  wind  that  had 
put  them  there  and  Joe  knew  it.  He  laid  his 
hand  gently  on  his  friend's  shoulder. 

"  Cheer  up,  old  fellow,"  he  said,  trying  to 
smile  and  making  hard  work  of  it.  "  Cheer 
up,  the  worst  is  yet  to  come." 

"  I  should  say  the  worst  was  here,"  replied 
Harry  dejectedly.  "  It 's  almost  winter  again 
and  we  are  farther  from  home  than  ever.  We 
have  n't  any  ship  for  a  refuge  this  time, 
either." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Joe,  "  and  we  've  got  to 
get  out  of  this  right  now.  We  '11  have  to 
leave  our  bone  behind,  but  that  has  been 
safe  there  a  good  many  years,  and  I  guess  it 
will  stay  one  more.  At  any  rate,  we  '11  risk 


THE  VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES    301 

it.  What  do  you  say,  old  chap,  if  we  go 
south  ?  " 

"  What  do  you  say  if  we  have  a  little  ex 
cursion  to  the  moon  ?  "  said  Harry  bitterly  ; 
"  the  one  seems  as  likely  as  the  other." 

"  I  don't  think  you  ought  to  feel  that 
way,"  replied  Joe.  "  The  tundra  and  the  rivers 
are  frozen,  the  dogs  have  come  back,  and  I 
have  a  plan.  We  will  not  attempt  to  find  a 
ship.  I  doubt  if  one  is  up  as  far  as  this  this 
year.  Nor  will  we  try  to  meet  one  at  Lis- 
burne,  the  chances  are  too  slim.  We  will  pack 
up  and  start  straight  south.  The  traveling 
is  good.  The  north  wind  will  be  at  our  backs, 
and  we  are  used  to  the  cold.  It  seems  a  bold 
scheme,  but  it  has  been  done  before.  Fun- 
ston  made  the  trip  north  and  back  to  the 
relief  of  shipwrecked  whalers  in  the  dead  of 
winter,  some  years  ago.  He  was  no  better 
fitted  than  we  to  endure  the  cold  and  the 
hardships.  Come  into  the  topek  a  minute  and 
I  '11  show  you  something." 

In  the  topek  Joe  unfolded  the  chart  of 
northern  Alaska,  which  was  among  the  papers 
saved  from  the  wreck  of  the  Bowhead.  He 
showed  Harry  the  distance  almost  due  south 
to  the  Yukon  River,  not  five  hundred  miles. 
There  they  should  strike  the  well  -  traveled 


302  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Yukon  winter  trail  from  St.  Michael  to  Daw- 
son  City  and  find  civilized  men.  The  very 
thought  of  it  made  them  both  wild,  so  weary 
were  they  grown  of  barbarism  and  the  frozen 
wilderness. 

"  Strong  and  well  as  we  are,  with  a  good 
dog  team/'  said  Joe,  "  we  ought  to  be  good 
for  fifteen  miles  a  day,  even  in  poor  traveling. 
Let  us  call  it  a  hundred  miles  a  week.  It 
should  take  us  not  over  five  weeks  to  reach 
the  Yukon.  Then  with  a  good  trail  we  can 
go  either  to  Dawson  City  or  St.  Michael.  In 
any  case,  it  means  that  we  get  out  and  get 
home.  It  is  now  September.  If  we  could 
reach  St.  Michael  before  the  last  of  Novem 
ber,  we  might  catch  a  late  steamer  for  San 
Francisco  or  Seattle.  At  any  rate,  we  would 
be  among  white  men.  It  is  better  than  stay 
ing  on  this  coast  for  another  winter,  which  is 
just  what  we  '11  have  to  do  unless  we  start." 

It  was  rather  a  desperate  venture,  but 
neither  was  willing  to  live  Eskimo  fashion  on 
Eskimo  food  for  another  eight  months  of  ter 
rible  cold.  It  made  their  hearts  sick  to  think 
of  it.  On  the  other  hand,  the  thought  of 
heading  toward  home,  with  a  chance  of  reach 
ing  it,  set  the  blood  leaping  in  their  veins 
again,  and  they  went  about  preparation  with 


THE   VILLAGE  WHERE  NO  ONE  LIVES    303 

feverish  haste.  Fortune  favored  them,  as  it 
does  the  brave.  The  very  next  day  a  school 
of  belated  beluga  came  puffing  and  plunging 
alongshore  headed  south  through  the  mush 
ice,  looking  like  a  foam-crested  wave  as  they 
rolled  along. 

The  Eskimos  seized  this  opportunity  with 
keen  delight,  and  Harry  and  Joe  joined  in 
the  hunting.  The  beluga  is  the  stupid  little 
white  whale  of  the  Arctic,  fifteen  or  twenty 
feet  long  and  white  as  milk.  The  whole  com 
munity  hastened  out  on  the  floes  and  in  the 
umiaks  on  the  seaward  side  of  the  school. 
Here,  suddenly,  they  attacked  them  with 
shouting  and  shooting,  with  beating  of  pad 
dles  and  thrusts  of  lances.  A  part  of  the 
school  got  away,  but  a  dozen  or  more  were 
shot,  lanced,  or  driven  ashore,  where  they 
stranded  in  shallow  water  and  were  easily 
killed.  It  was  a  feast  in  store  for  the  natives 
and  provision  laid  up  for  the  winter,  but  it 
meant  much  more  for  the  boys.  The  flesh 
of  the  beluga  is  not  bad  eating  for  man  or 
beast,  and  it  furnished  supplies  for  themselves 
and  dogs,  sufficient  to  undertake  the  trip. 

They  were  not  long  in  getting  away.  The 
gratitude  of  the  natives  still  held  good,  and 
they  could  have  anything  they  wished.  They 


304  THE  YOUNG   ICE  WHALERS 

took  five  of  the  strongest  dogs  and  a  good 
sled.  They  loaded  this  with  beluga  meat,  furs, 
a  slab  or  two  of  whalebone  slipped  slyly  in, 
"for  a  sample/'  as  Joe  said,  ammunition, 
their  papers,  and  the  two  repeating  rifles. 
They  did  not  ask  Harluk  to  accompany  them. 
Such  a  trip  meant  taking  him  from  his  wife 
and  children  for  a  long  time,  and  he  was  per 
haps  needed  for  their  support.  He  and  his 
Eskimo  friends  would  work  down  the  coast  to 
Icy  Cape  and  join  the  little  village  there. 

Good-bys  were  said  with  genuine  sorrow 
on  both  sides,  and  the  boys  set  their  faces 
to  the  south,  toward  new  and  stranger  adven 
tures. 


CHAPTER  XII 

IN    THE    HEART    OF   BLIZZARDS 

JOE  estimated  that  they  made  their  fifteen 
miles  the  first  day.  The  tundra  was  smooth, 
and  had  just  snow  enough  for  good  traveling. 
The  next,  the  dogs,  unused  to  their  masters, 
balked,  and  they  hardly  did  five,  to  their 
great  vexation.  The  day  after  was  better, 
and  with  patience  and  firmness  they  taught 
the  animals  that  they  must  obey.  Then  some 
rough  traveling  bothered  them.  Still  they 
got  on,  and  at  the  end  of  the  first  week  they 
had  probably  eighty  miles  to  their  credit. 
They  were  hopeful,  and  planned  to  do  more 
the  next,  but  they  made  Sunday  a  day  of  rest. 
It  was  a  solemn  thing,  this  cutting  loose 
from  friends  and  supplies  and  braving  the 
unknown  interior,  and  it  made  them  thought 
ful  of  observances  that  they  had  neglected  in 
igloo  and  topek.  Harry  took  from  his  inner 
pocket  the  little  Bible  that  he  had  carried 
all  through  the  trip,  and,  opening  its  pages, 
stained  with  Bering  Sea  water,  at  random, 


306  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

found  the  book  of  Psalms.  He  read  aloud 
to  Joe,  and  the  simple  grandeur  of  thought 
and  eloquent  beauty  of  phrase  steadied  and 
heartened  them  both.  Then  they  talked  long 
of  their  home  and  friends,  and,  resting  in  the 
shelter  of  their  tent  while  the  dogs  lay  con 
tent  in  the  snow  outside,  felt  that  the  ob 
servance  of  the  day  had  been  worthy,  and 
a  wise  thing.  They  made  it  their  custom 
thereafter.  Yet  in  all  this  talk  of  home  Harry 
never  mentioned  Maisie  to  Joe.  But  that  is 
not  saying  he  did  not  think  of  her. 

The  fourth  day  of  the  next  week  carried 
them  over  a  range  of  hills  to  a  second,  higher 
table-land.  They  had  been  helped  in  their 
journey  by  a  river,  on  whose  level,  snow-cov 
ered  ice  they  worked  southward  at  a  good  rate 
of  speed.  Its  course  seemed  fairly  direct,  and 
they  made  in  speed  what  they  lost  by  not  go 
ing  in  a  straight  line.  The  four  days  must 
have  added  nearly  another  fifty  miles  to  their 
journey,  and  Joe  was  jubilant.  He  began  to 
predict  that  they  would  reach  the  Yukon  in 
good  season,  and  get  out  by  steamer  from  St. 
Michael  that  fall. 

The  very  next  morning  they  waked  cold, 
in  spite  of  their  furs,  and  found  a  gray  and 
sunless  dawn,  across  which  a  keen  north  wind 


IN   THE   HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          307 

sang.  They  hitched  up  and  pressed  on,  but 
the  sky  grew  grayer,  and  soon  the  world  was 
a  whirling  mass  of  snow.  They  drifted  before 
this  wind  for  a  mile  or  two,  the  snow  getting 
deeper,  and  their  progress  slower  every  mo 
ment.  Soon  it  was  half  knee  deep,  and  the 
load  began  to  be  heavy  for  the  dogs.  Now  and 
then  they  looked  up  at  the  boys  wistfully,  as 
if  wondering  why  they  did  not  seek  shelter. 
For  two  hours  they  struggled  on,  not  so  much 
because  they  wished  to  as  that  on  the  level 
plain  there  seemed  to  be  no  cover. 

By  and  by  Harry  began  to  wonder  if  he 
was  dreaming.  The  snow  under  foot  seemed 
to  be  trodden  and  the  walking  easier.  Then  he 
began  to  have  what  he  thought  were  fleeting 
glimpses  of  shadowy  forms  that  surrounded 
them,  yet  never  came  near  enough  to  be  really 
seen.  He  spoke  of  this  to  Joe,  who  had  been 
plugging  along  in  a  sort  of  weary  daze  behind 
the  sled  while  Harry  led  the  way  for  the  dogs. 

Joe  waked  up  at  this,  and  together  they 
examined  the  ground.  There  certainly  were 
countless  tracks  of  hoofs  under  foot,  though 
the  rapidly  falling  snow  blotted  them  out 
very  soon. 

"  They  are  caribou  tracks,"  said  Harry. 

"But  where  are  the  caribou?"  asked  Joe. 


308  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"All  about  us,"  replied  Harry.  "I  keep 
thinking  I  see  them,  but  the  snow  is  so  thick 
and  blinding  that  I  can't  be  sure.  See !  " 

They  had  stopped  during  this  consultation, 
and,  looking  directly  back,  they  could  see  dim 
antlered  forms  that  divided  as  they  approached, 
and  went  to  the  left  and  right  of  them,  pass 
ing  on  into  the  blur  of  snow.  An  immense 
herd  of  caribou,  perhaps  miles  long,  was 
drifting  before  the  gale,  and  by  some  strange 
chance  had  inclosed  them  within  itself.  The 
animals,  stupid,  and  dazed  by  the  snow,  paid 
little  attention  to  them,  but  pressed  aimlessly 
on,  as  if  blown  by  the  storm.  It  was  a  strange 
experience,  this  being  the  centre  of  an  in 
visible  herd  that  made  a  path  for  them  in  the 
wilderness  of  snow.  It  lasted  for  another 
hour,  and  yet  they  had  hardly  a  glimpse  of 
the  deer.  It  came  to  an  end  when  they 
reached  a  broad  gully  that  marked  the  course 
of  a  stream.  In  the  shelter  of  the  bank  of 
this  the  snow  had  drifted  deep,  and  here  the 
tracks  swerved  and  left  them  in  the  snow. 

"  We  'd  better  camp  here,"  said  Joe. 
"  We  've  had  enough  for  one  day,  and  here 
is  a  good  spot." 

The  weary  dogs  dropped  panting  at  the 
word,  but  Joe  took  a  rifle  from  the  sled. 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          309 

"  It  seems  a  shame,"  he  said,  "  after  they've 
broken  a  path  for  us  for  hours,  but  I  want 
one  of  those  caribou." 

He  stepped  back  a  few  rods  into  the  fog 
of  the  storm,  and  in  a  moment  a  single  shot 
sounded.  After  making  the  dogs  fast,  Harry 
went  back  to  him.  A  fine  buck  lay  dead 
with  a  bullet  through  his  heart. 

"  I  could  have  had  more,"  said  Joe,  "  but 
one  is  all  we  can  carry  with  our  other  lug 
gage." 

As  they  stood,  two  gray,  shaggy  forms 
sprang  out  of  the  storm,  and  would  have 
fallen  upon  the  dead  caribou,  but  seeing  the 
boys  they  hesitated  and  drew  back  with  red 
tongues  hanging  from  between  their  gleaming 
white  teeth.  A  shot  from  the  rifle  laid  one 
low,  and  the  other  vanished  like  a  flash.  They 
were  gray  wolves,  which  always  hang  about 
the  flank  of  the  caribou  herds  and  fall  upon 
the  weak  or  wounded.  Half  frozen  as  the 
boys  were,  they  skinned  and  cut  up  the  cari 
bou  the  first  thing.  Then  in  the  shelter  of  the 
gulley  they  set  up  their  tent,  and  with  their 
meat  and  sled-load  inside  it  banked  it  deep  in 
the  drift.  For  the  dogs  they  dug  a  snow  igloo 
and  made  them  fast  to  the  sled,  with  which 
they  blocked  the  entrance  to  it.  Thus  tho 


310  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

dogs,  well  fed  on  deer  meat,  had  shelter  suf 
ficient  for  their  needs  in  spite  of  the  blizzard. 
They  themselves  were  snug  in  the  little  tent 
banked  deep  in  the  drift.  There  was  no 
chance  to  get  wood  for  fuel,  but  here  they 
learned  the  wisdom  of  Harluk,  who  had  in 
sisted  that  they  make  a  part  of  their  load  a 
seal  poke  of  blubber  and  a  rude  lamp.  With 
this  they  toasted  caribou  steak,  and  it  added 
to  the  warmth  of  their  den. 

The  storm  continued  for  a  week,  the  third 
since  their  departure,  and  when  it  broke  and 
they  struggled  on  through  the  deep  drifts, 
they  at  once  realized  that  their  progress  must 
be  slow  indeed.  Yet,  after  all,  they  made 
about  ten  miles  a  day  by  patient  toil,  one 
going  ahead  and  breaking  a  road  for  the 
dogs,  the  other  following  the  sled  arid  help 
ing  it  along.  They  had  ten  days  of  beautiful 
weather,  too,  and  at  their  end  they  guessed 
that  they  had  made,  altogether,  nearly  two 
hundred  miles  south.  It  was  early  October 
now,  with  the  Arctic  winter  well  upon  them, 
yet  they  did  not  suffer  from  the  cold,  so  well 
had  they  learned  Eskimo  methods  of  defense 
against  it.  To  their  great  delight,  about  this 
time  they  began  to  find  timber.  It  was  small, 
it  is  true,  and  consisted  of  scattered  clumps 


IN  THE   HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          311 

of  little  birches  and  alders,  with  here  and 
there  a  pigmy  fir.  They  danced  and  shouted 
about  this  first  fir  till  the  dogs  no  doubt 
thought  them  "  molokully."  It  seemed  like  an 
outpost  of  the  home  land  of  trees,  real  trees ! 
They  had  seen  none  for  a  year  and  a  half, 
and  were  fairly  homesick  for  timber.  They 
had  wood  now  for  their  cooking,  yet  the  tim 
ber  was  a  hindrance  to  them.  The  wind-swept 
and  hardened  snow  gave  way  under  its  pro 
tection  to  soft  and  fluffy  drifts,  which  made 
the  traveling  far  more  difficult.  And  about 
this  time  they  caught  another  storm.  A  gen 
uine  blizzard,  this  was,  with  some  fall  of  snow, 
but  mainly  wind  and  cold. 

They  were  obliged  to  camp,  as  before,  nor 
did  the  gale  let  up  for  three  weeks.  It  was 
maddening,  but  there  was  no  help  for  it. 
These  terrific  Arctic  gales  sometimes  last  for 
literal  months,  and  they  were  fortunate  to 
escape  as  they  did. 

They  fed  the  dogs  lightly  during  their  en 
forced  leisure,  but  even  thus  their  provisions 
began  to  run  low,  and  they  were  anxious. 
It  began  to  look  as  if  it  would  be  months 
instead  of  weeks  before  they  reached  the 
Yukon,  yet  they  were  not  discouraged.  It 
was  better  to  steadily,  though  slowly,  progress 


312  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

toward  home  than  to  wait  in  inaction.  When 
fair  weather  came,  Joe  decided  that  they 
must  hunt  before  going  farther.  This  they 
did  for  two  days  steadily,  plunging  round 
through  the  waist-deep  snow,  with  a  fox,  a 
white  owl,  and  several  ptarmigan  as  the  result, 
just  about  what  they  ate  during  that  time. 
This  was  not  worth  while,  and  they  struggled 
south  again,  with  the  fast  lowering  sun  as  a 
guide.  Another  week  passed  with  slow  pro 
gress,  but  the  timber  got  thicker  and  ptarmi 
gan  became  plentiful.  There  was  hardly  need 
to  shoot  these.  They  were  tame  enough  to 
be  knocked  over  with  a  stick. 

It  was  weary  work,  and  the  last  of  their 
supplies  was  gone  when  they  came  out  on  a 
low  bluff,  the  bank  of  a  considerable  river. 
Below  them,  on  the  river  ice,  was  a  winding 
mark  through  the  snow.  It  might  be  a  cari 
bou  trail,  and  they  plunged  eagerly  down 
to  it. 

There  were  the  footprints  of  moccasins  and 
marks  of  a  sled! 

Harry  felt  much  as  he  thought  Robinson 
Crusoe  must  have  when  he  saw  the  famous 
footprints  in  the  sand.  They  had  been  so 
long  without  seeing  human  beings  that  it 
seemed  as  if  the  country  must  be  utterly  unin- 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          313 

habited,  but  this  proved  something  different. 
They  turned  and  followed  this  trail  up  river. 
Then  they  rounded  a  bluff,  saw  smoke  and 
heard  the  barking  of  many  dogs,  and  from 
a  cluster  of  timber  huts  a  group  appeared, 
and  a  man  came  to  greet  them. 

"  Nagouruk,  nagouruk,"  shouted  Joe,  and 
greeted  him  in  Eskimo,  to  which  the  other 
replied  hesitatingly  in  a  few  words  of  the 
same  language.  Others,  men,  women,  and 
children,  poured  out  of  the  village  and  re 
ceived  the  two  adventurers  hospitably. 

"  We  '11  camp  with  these  people  for  a  while," 
said  Joe.  "  We  must  till  we  can  get  provi 
sions  enough  to  move  on." 

Harry  assented.  Indeed,  both  boys  were 
heartily  tired  of  then:  struggle  against  the 
odds  of  snow  and  fast  approaching  darkness. 
They  were  assigned  an  empty  igloo,  but  pre 
ferred  to  build  one  of  their  own  out  of  wood, 
brush,  and  snow,  which  had  the  merit  of 
being  clean.  Their  new-found  friends  were 
generous,  had  plentiful  supplies  of  dried  fish 
and  frozen  meat,  and  the  boys  lingered  with 
them  at  first  to  rest.  Later,  the  midwinter 
blizzards  made  it  impossible  for  them  to 
travel. 

The  inland  Indians  of  northern  Alaska  are 


314  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

few,  but  scattered  villages  of  them  may  be 
found  along  the  larger  rivers.  They  are  much 
like  the  Eskimos  in  their  habits  and  dress, 
but  are  taller  and  of  stronger  build.  Their 
dialect  is  different  in  many  respects  from  that 
of  their  cousins  of  the  coast,  yet  they  have 
many  words  in  common,  and  meet  in  trade 
often  enough  to  be  able  to  talk  to  one  another. 
The  boys  learned  that  the  river  on  which  they 
dwelt  flowed  into  the  sea  to  the  westward, 
and  were  convinced  from  their  chart  that  they 
had  reached  the  headwaters  of  the  Kowak, 
which  empties  into  Kotzebue  Sound.  When 
they  talked  of  going  on,  the  Indians  told  them 
it  would  be  impossible.  The  snows,  they 
said,  were  very  deep,  which  the  boys  knew 
to  be  true.  The  country  to  the  south  was 
one  of  rugged  mountains,  which  they  would 
be  unable  to  cross.  Besides,  they  argued, 
what  was  the  need?  As  soon  as  any  one 
could  travel  in  the  spring,  they  themselves 
were  going  down  river  to  meet  the  tribes  of 
the  great  sandspit  at  the  meeting  of  rivers 
with  the  sea.  Thither,  they  said,  came  all 
the  tribes  of  the  coast  to  meet  those  of  the 
rivers  and  exchange  goods.  Sometimes,  too, 
ships  appeared,  and  they  would  perhaps  find 
white  men  there. 


IN  THE   HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          315 

Thus,  still  baffled,  the  two  waited  doggedly 
for  the  spring,  hopeful  still,  not  giving  way 
to  useless  repinings,  yet  very  weary  of  the 
bonds  of  frost  that  held  them  fast.  The  In 
dians  lived  a  simple  life,  not  so  very  different 
from  that  of  their  Eskimo  friends.  They 
kept  their  igloos  in  severe  weather.  When  it 
was  mild,  they  trapped  red  and  white  foxes, 
wolverines,  and  ermine,  and  kept  a  keen  eye 
out  for  caribou,  whose  coming  meant  a  feast 
and  many  hides  for  traffic  in  the  spring  trad 
ing-meet,  to  which  they  looked  forward.  The 
sun  vanished  and  came  again.  The  winter 
solstice  passed,  and  day  by  day  he  rode  a  little 
higher  in  the  southern  sky.  February  came 
and  March,  with  its  wild  gales,  and  the  fly 
ing  snow  that  drifted  back  and  forth  across 

o 

the  country  in  clouds  that  obscured  the  sun 
at  noon,  and  sometimes  wrapped  the  igloos 
deep  beneath  its  whelming  white  volumes, 
again  drifted  away  from  them  and  left  them 
half  bare  to  the  keen  winds;  then  April 
with  its  mild  air,  a  sun  that  left  them  little 
night  and  settled  the  snow  till  it  was  as  hard 
as  a  floor  where  packed  in  solid  drifts.  The 
Indians  prospered,  and  the  boys  shared  their 
prosperity.  Early  hi  April  a  great  herd  of 
caribou  shambled  by  the  village,  and  the  whole 


316  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

community  turned  out  to  slaughter  them. 
Never  had  they  killed  so  many  deer;  indeed, 
far  more  were  shot  than  could  be  properly 
attended  to,  and  many  were  left  to  the  wolves. 
There  was  little  hunting  to  this.  The  stupid 
caribou,  running  hither  and  thither,  were  shot 
down  with  repeating  rifles,  which  are  as  plenti 
ful  among  the  wild  tribes  of  Alaska  as  among 
civilized  hunters.  Then  the  herd,  so  great 
that  the  slaughter  seemed  in  no  wise  to  dimin 
ish  it,  passed  on. 

"  Our  white  visitors,"  said  the  head  man  of 
the  village,  "  have  brought  good  fortune  with 
them.  There  shall  be  a  feast." 

"  Look  here,"  said  Harry  to  Joe  privately, 
on  hearing  this ;  "  you  don't  suppose  this  is 
any  seal's  head  business,  this  one,  do  you  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  Joe,  "  this  is  to  be  a  real 
banquet,  I  think." 

A  real  banquet  it  was,  indeed.  The  largest 
igloo  in  the  village  was  the  scene,  everybody 
in  the  place  was  present,  and  the  amount  of 
deer  meat  eaten  was  astonishing.  Then  there 
followed  an  entertainment  in  the  nature  of 
private  theatricals.  Each  hunter  in  turn  gave 
a  description  of  the  most  exciting  event  in 
his  life,  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  and 
making  of  it  an  exceedingly  interesting  and 


IN  THE   HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          317 

dramatic  recital.  Humorous  scenes  in  every 
day  life,  and  amusing  mishaps  in  hunting  and 
fishing,  were  also  acted  out  in  realistic  fashion, 
and  brought  shouts  of  laughter  from  all. 

The  crowning  number  in  the  entertainment, 
however,  was  a  cake  walk  done  by  the  boys, 
who  blackened  their  faces  with  soot  and  gave 
the  burlesque  with  much  spirit.  They  were 
called  upon  to  repeat  this  until  they  were 
obliged  to  quit  from  sheer  weariness,  and  then 
they  laughed  themselves  out  of  breath  at  the 
queer  antics  of  their  friends,  who  began  im 
mediately  to  imitate  this  novel  form  of  enter 
tainment.  It  was  the  first  really  hearty  laugh 
they  had  had  for  a  long  time,  and  it  did  them 
both  a  world  of  good. 

Then  came  the  start  down  river,  and  the 
bustle  of  preparation,  together  with  the  home 
ward  thought,  put  them  in  great  spirits.  Half 
a  dozen  sleds,  each  with  its  team  of  dogs, 
were  piled  high  with  provisions,  caribou  hides, 
fox,  ermine,  and  wolverine  pelts,  and  the 
whole  community  started  down  the  stream  on 
the  hard  settled  snow.  The  boys  computed 
that  they  had  a  journey  of  two  hundred  miles 
ahead  of  them,  taking  into  account  the  wind 
ings  of  the  river,  and  that  their  destination 
was  the  sandspit  at  Hotham  Inlet.  The  In- 


318  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

dians  verified  this  on  being  shown  the  chart, 
and  seemed  to  have  a  good  understanding  of 
a  map.  They  moved  by  leisurely  stages, 
stopping  often  for  a  day  or  two  to  rest  or  on 
account  of  bad  weather.  Yet  the  weather 
in  the  main  was  delightful,  varying  between 
the  freezing-point  and  perhaps  zero  or  a  little 
below,  with  a  dry  air  and  mainly  a  bright  sun 
that  made  it  a  pleasure  to  be  alive.  In  trav 
eling,  the  head  man  of  the  village  led,  over 
the  hard  crust,  or  breaking  a  path  through 
softer  snow  on  rude  snowshoes.  His  own 
team  and  sled  followed,  then  another  team 
with  a  man  or  boy  leading,  and  so  on.  The 
women  and  children  strung  along  between 
the  teams  where  the  snow  was  soft,  or  on 
either  side  where  it  was  hard.  The  dogs  were 
intelligent  and  well  trained,  and  the  work  of 
guiding  them  thus  in  single  file  was  not  diffi 
cult. 

Early  May  found  them  a  hundred  miles 
toward  their  destination,  and  here,  in  one 
day,  many  interesting  things  happened.  They 
had  found  their  two  slabs  of  whalebone, 
brought  from  the  Arctic  coast,  of  great  value 
to  them  in  trade.  They  had  split  one  of 
these  into  small  strips  and  peddled  them  out 
in  barter  to  the  men  of  the  tribe,  who  coveted 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          319 

-whalebone,  and  were  as  eager  as  stage  Yan 
kees  for  a  trade.  They  had  bought  with  this, 
among  other  things,  two  pair  of  rude  snow- 
shoes,  and  on  the  day  I  speak  of,  while  the 
tribe  rested,  they  started  down  river  on  an 
exploring  trip.  It  was  warm  and  bright,  and 
thawed  a  little  in  the  sun  in  sheltered  nooks. 

The  Kowak  in  its  middle  course  winds 
among  cliffs,  carving  its  way  through  high 
bluffs  on  one  side,  leaving  alluvial  stretches 
of  level  flats  at  the  base  of  other  heights 
opposite.  From  one  of  these  sheer  bluffs, 
facing  the  south,  wind  and  sun  had  taken  the 
snow,  and  as  they  approached  they  saw  stick 
ing  from  the  dark  soil  of  its  surface  white 
objects  like  weather-worn  logs  of  driftwood. 

"  Funny !  "  said  Joe  ; "  they  look  like  bones, 
those  logs.  See,  there  are  some  that  look  like 
the  knuckle-bone  of  a  ham,  and  there  are 
others  like  rib-bones." 

"  Yes,"  said  Harry,  taking  up  the  simile, 
"  and  there  are  two  that  stick  out  of  the 
frozen  mud  like  an  elephant's  tusks,  only  they 
are  curved  too  much  and  about  fifteen  feet 
long.  Let 's  get  nearer." 

As  they  approached,  their  interest  gave  way 
to  wonder.  The  seeming  bones  were  bones 
in  very  truth,  piled  fantastically  and  protrud- 


320  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

ing  in  strange  profusion.  Harry  climbed  by 
knobs  and  steps  of  bone  part  way  up  the 
bluff  and  shouted  down  to  Joe. 

"  These  are  tusks,  mastodon  tusks,  sticking 
right  out  of  the  bank,  and  here  is  a  bit  of  the 
skull  sticking  out  with  shreds  of  hide  and  hair 
on  it.  There  must  be  a  whole  one  frozen  into 
the  bluff  here." 

Joe  climbed  up  and  viewed  the  remains  with 
him.  It  really  seemed  as  if,  concealed  in  the 
frozen  mud  behind  the  great  tusks,  the  whole 
creature  might  be  preserved,  in  cold  storage 
as  one  might  say,  kept  during  the  long  cen 
turies,  and  exposed  by  the  crumbling  of  the 
bluff  during  the  rush  of  the  river  torrent 
in  spring.  An  astonishing  number  of  bones 
were  in  this  place,  all  of  the  mastodon,  and 
the  only  explanation  seemed  to  be  that  in  the 
forgotten  ages  when  the  frozen  zone  was  a 
warm  one  and  the  mastodon  roamed  there  in 
large  numbers,  this  ground  must  have  been 
a  deep  bog,  in  which  many  of  the  creatures 
became  mired  and  were  in  a  great  measure 
preserved,  as  peat  preserves  things.  The 
boys  settled  it  in  this  way  to  their  own  satis 
faction,  at  least. 

"  Come  on,"  cried  Joe,  in  exuberance  of 
spirits,  "  let 's  ride  the  elephant." 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          321 

"  Ride  the  mastodon,  you  mean/'  replied 
Harry ;  and  each  scrambled  for  a  tusk.  "  Get 
up  !  "  cried  Harry,  "  cooning  "  along  to  the 
tip  of  his  tusk.  "  Get  up  old  fellow  and  give 
us  a  ride.  Great  Scott,  he  's  moving  !  " 

The  tusks  of  the  mastodon,  moving  to 
gether,  dipped  gently  and  easily  downward 
and  both  boys  shot  off  them  into  space. 

It  was  a  matter  of  twenty  feet  to  the  soft 
snow,  and  they  plunged  into  it  out  of  sight. 

Behind  them  came  the  great  tusks,  hun 
dreds  of  pounds  of  weathered  ivory,  plun 
ging  through  the  snow  nearer  the  base  of  the 
cliff.  They  missed  the  two  by  a  little,  but 
they  missed  them.  Harry  felt  himself  smoth 
ered  in  a  whirl  of  snow,  then  falling  again  for 
a  short  distance,  and  finally  brought  up  on  a 
soft  turf,  where  he  lay  for  a  moment  half  dazed 
by  the  thud  with  which  he  struck.  Then  he 
scrambled  to  his  feet  and  looked  around.  He 
was  in  a  low-roofed,  wide  cavern,  dusky  with  a 
greenish  pale  twilight.  Joe  was  sitting  up  on 
the  ground  by  his  side,  rubbing  his  elbow  and 
leg  alternately  and  looking  foolish,  as  no  doubt 
he  felt. 

"  Where  are  we,  anyway  ?  "  asked  Joe,  and 
the  query  was  pertinent  if  the  answer  which 
he  got  was  not. 


322  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Riding  the  elephant/'  replied  Harry,  with 
a  rueful  grin. 

Over  their  heads,  ten  feet  away  in  the  snow 
roof  through  which  they  had  come,  were  four 
holes  which  let  in  the  nebulous  twilight  by 
which  they  saw.  They  and  the  mastodon 
tusks  had  come  that  way.  To  get  back  was 
another  matter. 

They  looked  about  with  much  curiosity  not 
untempered  with  dismay.  They  were  beneath 
the  crust  of  an  enormous  drift  that  the  winter 
storms  had  whirled  over  the  mastodon  cliff. 
Under  their  feet  was  a  mixture  of  mud  and 
bones  from  the  cliff,  carpeted  with  grass  and 
moss.  Around  them  grew  willows.  The  slen 
der  top  branches  of  these  had  been  caught  by 
the  first  damp  snow  of  early  autumn  and  bent 
beneath  it  till  they  twined,  holding  the  bulk 
of  it  up.  This  had  frozen  there  and  the  suc 
ceeding  snows  had  piled  above  it,  leaving  the 
place  free,  an  ideal  natural  cold  frame  for  the 
shrubs  and  grass  of  the  bottom  land.  These 
appreciated  the  shelter,  and  feeling  the  thrill 
of  spring  in  their  dark  world,  were  already 
putting  forth  young  green  leaves.  Up  and 
down  stream  the  cavern  extended  indefinitely. 
On  one  side  it  ended  abruptly  against  the 
cliff,  on  the  other  it  tapered  down  to  the  river 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS  3'23 

ice,  already  worn  thin  on  its  edge  and  begin 
ning  to  thaw. 

For  an  hour  they  wandered  back  and  forth 
in  this  strange  cavern,  their  eyes  becoming  ac 
customed  to  the  darkness.  It  was  fortunate 
that  this  had  not  happened  a  few  weeks  later. 
Then  the  freshening  flood  of  the  river  would 
no  doubt  have  drowned  them  like  rats  in  a 
hole.  Now  they  were  free  —  to  wait  for  the 
flood,  unless  they  could  get  out.  But  both 
boys  were  Yankees,  and  there  is  always  a  way 
out  of  a  scrape,  though  it  sometimes  takes  a 
Yankee  to  find  it.  Joe  suggested  that  they 
climb  the  stubby  willows  and  thence  dig  their 
way  up,  but  his  plan  failed,  for  he  could  not  get 
footing  enough  to  get  through  the  snow.  In 
stead,  he  fell  again  to  the  bottom  and  rubbed 
his  other  leg.  Harry  suggested  the  plan  that 
ultimately  succeeded.  With  his  knife  he  cut 
stout  willow  stakes  and  sharpened  them  at  the 
end.  Then  walking  toward  the  ice  till  they 
were  blocked  by  the  low  roof,  they  began  to 
dig  a  tunnel  slanting  upward  and  outward.  It 
was  a  long  dig  through  frozen  crust  and  lay 
ers  of  damp  snow,  but  they  finally  emerged 
like  ground  squirrels  in  the  spring,  and  found 
the  glare  of  the  sun  on  the  snow  quite  blind 
ing. 


324  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

That  night  in  camp  the  head  man  of  the 
tribe  came  to  the  boys  to  trade.  He  wanted 
more  whalebone,  and  he  offered  them  things 
which  they  had  not  seen  before.  These  were 
rough  ornaments  of  green  jade,  some  mere 
bits  of  stone,  others  rudely  chipped  into 
shapes.  One  of  these  was  a  rude  image  of 
Buddha  such  as  Harry  had  seen  in  Chinese 
collections.  Harry  marveled  at  this  greatly, 
but  the  Indian  could  give  no  explanation  con 
cerning  it  except  that  his  father  had  got  it  in 
trade  from  a  coast  native.  By  what  strange 
mutations  this  had  come  from  its  Oriental  fa 
therland  may  never  be  known,  but  the  north 
has  its  routes  of  trade  as  have  other  regions. 
Things  go  from  hand  to  hand  among  the  tribes, 
and  this  had  probably  passed  in  centuries  of 
time  through  Tartar  tribes  to  the  Chuckchis, 
over  to  the  Diomedes,  down  the  coast  to  Ho- 
tham  Inlet,  and  up  the  river  to  the  father  of 
the  head  man.  Now  it  was  on  its  way  back 
to  the  sea,  and  may  ultimately  reach  its  father 
land  by  circumnavigating  the  globe.  Who 
knows  ? 

It  was  while  examining  these  jade  orna 
ments  that  Harry  noted  something  else  that 
gave  him  a  start  of  surprise.  He  thought  at 
first  it  was  a  yellow  and  dirty  image  of  a  seal 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS          325 

carved  from  a  walrus  tooth,  such  as  he  had 
bought  at  the  Diomedes  as  a  curio  and  lost  in 
the  sinking  of  the  Bowhead.  He  picked  this 
up  carelessly  and  was  astonished  at  its  weight. 
He  put  the  point  of  his  knife  to  it  and  it  left 
a  clear,  dull  yellow  streak.  Then  he  passed  it 
to  Joe  without  a  word. 

It  was  a  two  ounce  nugget  of  pure  gold, 
hammered  or  carved  into  that  rude  semblance 
of  a  seal  which  is  the  delight  of  the  Eskimo 
image  maker.  Joe's  eyes  snapped  at  sight 
of  it  and  he  bought  it  forthwith,  though  he 
had  to  give  a  good  deal  of  bone  for  it.  The 
head  man  had  seen  his  eyes  snap  when  Harry 
handed  it  to  him,  and  made  him  pay  accord- 


The  head  man  could  not  tell  whence  this 
little  image  of  pure  gold  came  except  that  he 
had  got  it  in  trade  from  a  man  of  the  coast 
tribes  who  came  in  to  the  sandspit  to  trade 
from  along  the  coast  to  the  south.  Like  the 
jade  Buddha,  it  might  have  passed  from  hand 
to  hand  for  a  long  distance. 

As  they  continued  their  journey,  another 
tribe  joined  them,  coming  down  a  tributary 
of  the  Kowak  ;  then  others  came,  and  soon 
the  little  expedition  was  a  large  one,  steadily 
and  leisurely  progressing  down  river.  It  was 


326  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

toward  the  end  of  May.  The  days  were  long 
and  warm  ;  indeed,  there  was  no  night,  for 
though  the  sun  set  for  a  few  hours  each  day, 
only  a  gentle  twilight  marked  his  absence.  The 
tributaries  from  the  hills  were  running  free 
of  ice  and  threatened  to  flood  the  surface  of 
the  river,  which  was  still  solid.  Signs  of  the 
spring  break-up  were  numerous,  and  when  the 
little  army  reached  a  long  winding  canyon 
among  abrupt  hills,  there  was  much  discussion 
whether  they  should  continue  on  the  ice  or 
take  to  the  banks.  The  easy  but  unsafe  route 
of  the  main  river  ice  was  decided  upon,  and 
they  entered  between  the  hills  and  pressed 
on.  They  traveled  rapidly  now,  and  there  was 
much  uneasiness  among  the  Indians,  who 
seemed  to  fear  something  from  behind.  The 
ice  was  solid  in  the  main,  yet  in  spots  it  was 
flooded,  and  the  increase  in  volume  and  rush 
of  the  water  beneath  had  worn  holes  through 
it  in  other  places.  They  pressed  on  with 
all  the  speed  they  could  command,  watchful 
always  of  the  menace  from  behind. 

It  was  on  the  second  day  that  it  came. 
They  were  between  perpendicular  bluffs,  diffi 
cult  if  not  impossible  to  climb,  when  a  shout 
went  up  from  those  in  the  rear.  As  if  at  a 
signal,  every  one  stopped  and  listened.  Far 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS  327 

behind  them  could  be  heard  a  dull  sound, 
faint,  yet  ominous.  Somehow  it  reminded 
Harry  of  a  still  spring  night  when  he  had  been 
boating  late  on  the  Charles  River,  and  had 
heard  across  the  water  the  steady  hum  of  elec 
tric  cars,  speeding  hither  and  thither  in  the 
city,  a  vibrant  undertone  like  the  quivering  of 
tense  wires  in  a  gale. 

A  shout  went  from  one  end  of  the  long 
line  of  sledges  to  the  other.  "  Emik  kile ! 
Emik  kile !  Gur  !  "  it  said.  "  The  water  is 
coming  !  The  water  is  coming  !  Go  !  " 

At  the  word  dogfs  and  men,  women  and 

O  ' 

children,  sprang  from  listening  immobility 
into  intense  action.  The  dogs  surged  against 
their  collars,  and  the  sleds  bounded  forward. 
The  men,  shouting,  ran  beside  them,  urging 
them  on  with  whip  and  voice.  Mothers  caught 
their  smaller  children  to  their  shoulders,  the 
older  ones  scampered  beside  them,  and  all 
rushed  forward  down  the  river,  fleeing  from 
that  menacing  hum,  which  was  drowned  for 
the  moment  by  their  own  uproar.  On  they 
went,  splashing  across  the  flooded  places, 
daring  the  thin  edges  of  the  water-holes,  un 
mindful  of  the  danger  under  foot,  thinking 
only  of  what  was  bearing  down  upon  them, 
still  miles  behind.  As  they  plunged  on,  they 


328  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

scanned  the  rude  cliffs  anxiously  for  a  gully 
or  a  break  that  would  give  them  passage  to 
the  upland,  but  they  found  none.  Little  need 
to  lash  the  dogs  ;  their  own  instinct  told  them 
the  danger  only  too  well.  Their  tawny  sides 
panted,  and  their  tongues  hung  from  their 
dripping  jaws. 

A  half  mile,  and  still  no  escape  to  the  right 
or  the  left.  The  women  and  children  kept  up 
with  wonderful  endurance,  yet  the  pace  was 
telling  on  them,  and  the  weaker  already  lagged 
behind. 

They  had  ceased  to  shout  and  urge  one  an 
other  on  now.  The  race  for  life  took  all  their 
breath.  Out  of  the  unknown  distance  behind 
them  the  low  vibrant  hum  had  increased  to  a 
grinding  roar,  in  which  there  were  sounds  like 
cannon-shots,  —  the  bursting  of  the  ice  under 
the  pressure  of  the  oncoming  flood.  Just 
ahead  of  Harry  a  youngster  stumbled,  then 
sprang  to  his  feet,  limping  badly.  The  fall 
had  wrenched  his  ankle,  and  he  could  no 
longer  run.  Harry  hesitated  for  a  second. 
There  was  an  indescribable  terror  of  that 
mighty  uproar  thrilling  through  him.  What 
was  the  life  of  a  little  Indian  boy  to  him? 
But  it  was  only  for  a  second,  this  hesitation. 
Then  with  a  gasp  of  shame  at  the  thought, 


IN   THE  HEART  OF   BLIZZARDS  329 

he  snatched  the  youngster  to  his  shoulder, 
and  ran  on,  panting  for  breath,  his  nerves 
quivering  with  the  bodily  fear  which  no  man 
can  avoid,  yet  strong  in  the  determination 
that  his  manhood  should  not  fail  in  the  crisis. 

The  roar  of  the  flood  suddenly  grew  louder 
yet,  and  he  looked  behind  as  he  fled.  Round 
a  bend  in  the  river  he  caught  a  glimpse 
of  what  was  coming.  The  ice  sprang  into 
the  air  in  great  cakes,  that  were  caught  by  a 
white  wall  behind  and  crushed  into  whirling 
rubble.  It  did  not  seem  to  come  fast,  this 
great  white  wall  of  ice  and  foam,  yet  it  gained 
on  them  rapidly.  In  this  look  behind  he  saw 
Joe.  He  was  near  the  end  of  the  line  of 
flight,  helping  along  an  Indian  grandmother, 
who  bore  in  her  arms  her  little  granddaughter, 
while  the  mother  with  a  babe  stumbled  along 
at  her  side,  her  black  eyes  wide  with  terror. 
Their  dogs  with  the  loaded  sled  had  outrun 
them  both  in  this  wild  race. 

Cries  of  encouragement  sounded  ahead  once 
more.  Those  in  the  front  of  flight  had  seen 
a  gully  in  the  bluffs  through  which  they 
might  escape.  Harry  saw  them  turn  toward 
this,  and  he  stumbled  and  gasped  along  under 
his  burden  with  renewed  hope.  Dogs  and 
men  foremost  in  the  race  leaped  into  this 


330  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

gully  and  scrambled  upward.  He  was  near  It 
now,  running  in  a  sort  of  bad  dream,  with  the 
tremendous  crushing  roar  of  the  flood  seeming 
to  whelm  him  in  its  waves  of  sound.  Cannon 
boomed  in  this  uproar,  volleys  of  musketry 
pulsed  through  it,  and  the  steady  hoof-beats 
of  the  white  horse  cavalry  of  the  flood  rolled 
deafeningly  on.  Now  he  was  at  the  bank, 
and  plunging  up  it,  too  weak  to  do  anything 
more  than  drop  with  his  burden  at  the  safety 
line.  He  was  among  the  last  to  reach  safety, 
but  Joe  was  behind  him. 

The  Indian  mother  with  her  babe  was  at 
the  edge  of  the  ice.  Twenty  feet  behind 
them  were  Joe  and  the  older  woman  and  the 
child.  Behind  them  again,  not  a  dozen  rods 
away,  rolled  the  great  white  wave  in  the  fore 
front  of  the  flood.  The  river  ice  swelled  to 
meet  this  wave.  It  rounded  up,  bulged,  burst, 
and  was  tossed  in  the  air  in  huge  cakes, 
springing  a  dozen  feet  upward,  engulfed  in 
the  white  seething  wall  as  they  came  down. 
In  front  of  this  the  grandmother  fell,  sending 
the  girl  rolling  ahead  of  her  on  the  ice.  Joe 
snatched  up  the  child,  turned  as  if  to  help 
the  woman,  and  then  the  ice  lifted  under  him, 
sending  him  spinning  toward  the  bank.  A 
moment  and  the  ice  burst  beneath  his  feet 


IN  THE  HEART  OF  BLIZZARDS  331 

A  great  cake  rose  and  tossed  him  up,  still 
clinging  to  the  child,  and  then  he  was  half 
smothered,  bruised,  and  soaked  in  a  whirl  of 
ice-cold  water,  and  sank  and  rose  on  the  edge 
of  the  flood,  washed  into  the  eddy  that  whirled 
in  the  gully,  and  still  he  clung  half  uncon 
sciously  to  the  child. 

It  was  the  little  one's  father  that  pulled 
him  out,  with  Harry  a  good  second,  yet  dis 
tanced  by  paternal  love.  The  flood  was  roar 
ing  through  the  canyon,  breaking  its  fierce 
way  to  the  sea,  but  the  careless  travelers  were 
safe  from  its  tumult ;  all  but  the  old  grand 
mother,  whose  devotion  to  the  child  had  cost 
her  her  life.  She  had  found  the  death  that 
is  so  common  to  the  Eskimo  and  the  other 
folk  of  the  wild  north,  —  to  vanish  into  the 
white  arms  of  the  flood,  or  go  out  to  sea  with 
the  ice. 

They  traveled  on  by  land,  over  melting 
snow,  and  across  ravines  in  which  splashed 
torrents.  The  Kowak  was  open  to  the  sea, 
and  summer  navigation  had  begun. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   MEETING    OF   TRIBES 

THE  Kirghis  and  Tartars  of  eastern  Europe 
and  Central  Asia  have  held  annual  trading 
fairs  from  a  time  beyond  which  record  does 
not  go.  Their  restless  progenitors,  moving 
eastward,  took  the  custom  with  them  to  the 
shores  of  the  northern  Pacific,  northeast  to 
Bering  Sea  and  the  limits  of  Siberia,  and 
with  them  it  must  have  crossed  the  narrow 
ice-ridden  straits  and  found  a  resting-place  in 
Arctic  America.  The  great  sandspit  between 
Hotham  Inlet  and  the  waters  of  the  ocean,  at 
the  head  of  Kotzebue  Sound,  has  been  the 
scene  of  this  meeting  for  no  one  knows  how 
many  centuries.  When  the  chinook  winds 
melt  the  snows,  and  the  Arctic  ice  pack  retreats 
northward  from  Bering  Sea  and  the  straits, 
thither  the  tribes  flock  from  hundreds  of  miles 
in  all  directions.  Down  the  Kowak,  the 
Selawik,  and  the  Noatak  rivers  from  the  far 
interior  come  the  taller,  more  distinctly  In 
dian-featured  men  of  the  mountain  fastnesses 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  333 

and  scant  timber,  bringing  jade  from  their 
mysterious  hills,  and  fox,  ermine,  wolverine, 
and  caribou  pelts.  From  Point  Hope  and  the 
coast  far  to  the  north  come  the  squat  tribes 
of  the  sea  line  with  their  ivory,  blubber, 
whalebone,  and  white  bearskins.  From  the 
Diomedes  and  East  Cape  sail  the  dwellers  on 
the  straits,  their  umiaks  built  up  with  skins  on 
the  sides,  that  the  rush  of  waves  may  not 
whelm  them  in  mid  sea,  their  wives  and  chil 
dren  at  the  paddle,  and  their  leathern  sails 
spread  to  the  favoring  gale.  From  King's 
Island,  rocky  eyrie  to  the  south,  where  they 
dwell  in  huts  perched  like  swallows'  nests  on 
the  side  of  sheer  cliffs,  come  others,  while 
even  the  far  shore  of  Norton  Sound  sends  its 
contingent. 

Wives,  children,  dogs,  boats,  sleds,  and  all 
earthly  possessions  they  bring,  leaving  nothing 
behind  but  the  winter  igloo  with  its  entrance 
gaping  lonely  where  barbaric  life  had  swarmed. 
They  set  up  their  topeks  on  the  sandspit, 
which,  for  eleven  months  in  the  year  so  deso 
late  and  bare,  now  seethes  with  life.  They 
visit  back  and  forth.  They  exchange  news 
of  the  berg-battered  coast  and  the  snow- 
smothered  interior,  and  they  trade.  Hunting 
and  fishing  and  trapping  is  business  with  an 


334  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

Eskimo  ;  trade  is  his  dissipation.  During  the 
weeks  of  this  annual  fair,  things  pass  from 
hand  to  hand,  and  come  back  and  are  traded 
over  again,  in  the  pure  joy  of  bargaining. 
Not  only  inanimate  objects  pass  current,  but 
the  tribesmen,  in  the  exuberance  of  barter, 
sell  their  dogs,  their  children,  and  sometimes 
their  wives.  It  is  a  mad  carnival  of  exchange. 

The  spirit  of  barter  was  in  the  air,  and  the 
boys  found  themselves  entering  keenly  into 
it,  yet  with  an  eye  to  the  future  rather  than 
for  the  purposes  of  mere  trade.  Their  future 
travel  must  be  by  water,  and  they  wanted  an 
umiak,  but  those  who  had  them  also  wanted 
them.  They  found  one  that  belonged  to  a 
Point  Hope  man,  however,  that  could  be 
bought,  but  not  at  the  price  which  they  could 
pay.  In  vain  they  offered  caribou  hides, 
wolverine  pelts,  and  almost  everything  they 
had.  The  price  was  not  sufficient,  and  they 
would  have  given  up  had  the  eye  of  the  Es 
kimo  not  lighted  on  the  jade  Buddha.  Harry 
noted  his  interest  in  this,  and  the  Yankee  in 
him  rose  up. 

He  vowed  that  the  bit  of  green  stone  was 
priceless  and  could  not  be  parted  with  on  any 
account.  The  Eskimo  offered  various  articles 
for  it.  Harry  would  not  sell.  The  owner 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  335 

increased  the  price.  Harry  turned  his  back 
with  much  indifference.  He  remembered  the 
lesson  of  his  trading"  with  the  little  people  of 
the  Diomedes.  How  long  ago  that  seemed  ! 
But  the  recollection  of  it  was  still  there.  Joe 
looked  on  this  with  much  interest,  well  con 
cealed.  He  had  failed  to  buy  the  umiak.  If 
Harry  could  do  it,  he  was  glad,  but  it  would 
not  do  to  show  his  gladness.  At  length,  baf 
fled,  after  offering  everything  but  what  the 
boys  wanted,  the  Point  Hope  man  went  away. 
Joe  laughed  at  Harry,  who  was  chagrined. 
But  the  next  day  the  Eskimo  came  back,  bear 
ing  the  umiak,  which  was  a  small  one,  upside 
down  on  his  shoulders.  He  staggered  beneath 
its  weight,  and  it  so  nearly  covered  him  that 
only  his  feet  appeared.  It  had  a  ludicrous 
appearance  of  walking  by  itself.  He  emerged 
from  beneath  this  and  laid  it  at  Harry's  feet. 

"  Will  the  white  men  give  me  the  little 
stone  for  this?"  he  asked.  With  wonder  in 
his  heart  Harry  waited  a  moment,  not  to  seem 
to  yield  too  easily.  Then  he  passed  over  the 
bit  of  jade  and  placed  his  hand  on  the  umiak. 
The  bargain  was  completed. 

Thus  it  is  with  the  Innuit.  He  is  a  shrewd 
trader,  yet,  sometimes,  for  no  explainable 
reason,  will  give  his  all  for  a  bauble,  and  in 


336  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

this  he  is  perhaps  not  so  very  different  from 
white  men,  after  all.  This  peculiar  trade  left 
the  boys  with  much  merchandise  still  on  their 
hands,  and  with  this  they  bought  trade  goods 
and  supplies  for  the  furtherance  of  their 
journey.  They  sold  their  dogs  and  sled,  and 
prepared  for  a  boat  trip  to  Bering  Straits, 
where  they  might  find  ships.  Failing  in  this, 
they  planned  to  work  south  along  the  coast. 
Under  no  conditions  would  they  go  north. 
They  had  had  enough  of  that. 

About  this  time  they  took  an  inventory  of 
their  possessions.  They  had  a  tent,  umiak, 
rifles,  and  ammunition,  flour,  sugar,  salt, 
matches,  and  clothes  rather  the  worse  for 
wear,  but  new  muckalucks.  They  had  a  few 
battered  kitchen  utensils,  sufficient  for  rough 
camp  housekeeping,  a  little  dried  fish,  and 
some  caribou  meat,  but  not  much.  They  had 
also  vigorous  health,  courage,  and  a  great 
desire  to  get  home,  and  they  planned  to  make 
a  start  soon,  but  while  they  planned  things 
happened. 

As  may  be  imagined,  among  such  a  horde 
of  barbarians  from  strange  villages  all  was 
not  law  and  order.  At  first  the  excitement 
of  trading  and  the  novelty  of  the  situation 
kept  everybody  busy,  but  by  and  by  barter 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  337 

got  to  be  an  old  story.  Contests  and  games 
became  prevalent,  trials  of  strength  in  wres 
tling,  shooting-matches,  blanket-tossing,  in 
which  if  no  one  volunteered  to  be  tossed  they 
went  out  and  caught  some  one,  who  was  tossed 
whether  he  needed  it  or  not.  Barbarians  are 
like  children,  and  those  who  lost  at  the  games 
were  not  always  good-natured.  But  the  sport 
of  all  others  at  this  meet  seemed  to  be  foot 
ball.  Not  the  Rugby  game,  but  a  sort  of 
go-as-you-please  match,  in  which  a  few  started, 
then  newcomers  joined  the  weaker  side,  till 
hundreds  swept  back  and  forth  across  the 
tundra,  sometimes  for  many  hours.  There 
were  no  rules  to  this  game ;  it  was  simply  get 
the  ball  back  any  way  you  could,  and  some  of 
these  ways  proved  to  be  rough  indeed.  Yet 
all  these  things  caused  only  minor  fracases 
and  individual  discontent.  There  was  another 
matter  which  threatened  to  make  things  more 
serious,  and  in  fact  did  so.  That  was  the 
making  of  "  hootch." 

If  you  mix  flour  and  water  and  let  it  fer 
ment,  then  distill  the  mixture  by  means  of  a 
rude  apparatus,  the  result  is  "  hootch."  Prob 
ably  the  coast  natives  learned  this  method 
from  some  renegade  white  man ;  then  the 
business  spread.  It  came  to  the  sandspit 


338  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

that  summer,  and,  as  a  result,  old  single-bar 
reled  shotguns  were  in  great  demand.  If 
you  take  one  of  these  and  put  the  butt  of  the 
barrel  in  a  good  hot  fire,  the  block  becomes 
unbrazed  from  the  breech  and  the  barrel  is  a 
tube.  It  serves  as  the  worm  of  a  primitive 
still.  Many  of  these  machines  were  set  up  in 
the  topeks  on  the  sandspit,  and  the  resultant 
hilarity  became  noticeable  long  before  the  boys 
discovered  its  cause.  They  foresaw  trouble, 
but  they  could  do  nothing  to  prevent  it.  They 
did  remonstrate  with  old  Panik,  the  head  man 
of  the  tribe  with  which  they  had  come  down 
river,  and  toward  whom  they  had  very  friendly 
feelings.  Indeed,  since  the  kindness  of  the 
village  to  the  boys  had  been  in  part  repaid 
by  their  help  in  saving  the  youngsters  from 
the  river  ice,  there  had  been  strong  bonds  of 
brotherhood  between  them  all. 

Panik  had  become  infected  with  the  desire 
to  make  the  new  drink,  and  had  paid  many 
skins  to  a  Chuckchis  for  the  old  gun.  He 
built  a  small  fire  at  his  topek  door,  and  while 
Harry  argued  with  him  he  thrust  the  butt  of 
the  barrel  into  it  with  a  cheerful  grin. 

"  You  shall  drink  with  me/'  he  said.  "  The 
new  drink  is  very  good."  And  then  there  was 
an  explosion,  and  Panik  sank  to  the  ground 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  339 

without  a  cry.  The  old  gun  was  loaded,  and 
the  heat  of  the  fire  had  discharged  it.  The 
chief  was  dead,  and  Harry  and  Joe  were  much 
pained  and  horrified  hy  the  accident. 

They  helped  bury  him  with  much  ceremony 
and  genuine  sorrow,  but  the  matter  did  not 
end  here.  The  Indian  is  more  vindictive 
than  the  Eskimo,  and  the  relatives  of  the  old 
chief  took  up  the  matter.  They  blamed  the 
Chuckchis  who  had  sold  the  gun,  even  inti 
mated  that  he  had  loaded  it  purposely,  and 
they  demanded  either  his  life  in  return,  or  the 
payment  of  a  large  amount  of  goods.  The 
Chuckchis,  as  I  have  said  before,  are  a  trucu 
lent  and  warlike  people,  and  this  one  reso 
lutely  and  scornfully  refused  reparation.  Then 
there  was  a  fight,  and  the  Chuckchis  killed 
one  of  Panik's  relatives  with  his  own  hand. 

The  feud  thus  begun  spread  rapidly,  the 
hootch  adding  fuel  to  the  flames,  and  in 
twenty-four  hours  the  camp  was  a  pandemo 
nium.  All  took  sides,  though  few  knew  just 
why,  or  with  whom,  and  a  wild  free  fight 
ensued.  Eskimos,  maddened  with  the  vile 
liquor,  ran  amuck,  killing  whatever  came 
within  reach,  until  they  were  themselves  killed, 
and  life  was  nowhere  safe  for  a  moment. 

It  was  of  no  use  for  the  boys  to  interfere, 


340  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

and  they  soon  saw  that  their  only  safety  lay 
in  flight.  This  agreed  with  their  plans  to  get 
away  as  soon  as  possible,  and  they  were  fortu 
nate  in  having  a  boat  and  sufficient  outfit. 
Accordingly  they  quietly  loaded  the  umiak, 
bade  good-by  to  such  of  the  villagers  as 
were  sober  and  they  could  reach  without  dan 
ger,  and  were  about  to  embark  when  the  Point 
Hope  man  who  had  sold  them  the  umiak 
appeared.  He  was  tipsy,  like  most  everybody 
else,  and  in  quarrelsome  mood.  He  laid  his 
hand  on  the  umiak  and  demanded  it  back, 
saying  that  he  was  not  satisfied  with  the  terms 
of  the  trade.  It  was  of  no  use  to  reason  with 
him  ;  he  was  not  in  a  condition  to  understand 
things.  Behind  him  came  other  Eskimos, 
also  armed  and  equally  tipsy,  and  matters 
looked  decidedly  unpleasant.  It  seemed  as 
if  they  would  have  to  fight  to  retain  their 
property. 

Joe  took  the  matter  in  hand.  "  Stand  by," 
he  said,  "  ready  to  shove  off ;  I  '11  reason  with 
this  fellow."  He  beckoned  the  Eskimo  back 
a  step  from  the  water,  and  the  other  followed 
with  a  satisfied  leer.  Probably  no  one  can  be 
so  insolent  in  the  eyes  of  a  white  man  as  a 
half-drunken  barbarian  when  he  thinks  he  is 
safe  in  the  abuse  of  power. 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  $41 

"You  say  the  umiak  is  yours?"  said  Joe, 
quite  humbly.  Harry's  blood  began  to  boil 
at  this  submissive  tone,  but  he  held  his  tongue. 

"  Yes/'  replied  the  Eskimo,  stepping  nearer 
to  Joe  threateningly,  "  it  is  mine,  and  you 
must  —  ugh  !  " 

Joe  had  suddenly  caught  a  wrestling  grip 
on  him,  and  before  the  tipsy  man  of  the  ice 
knew  what  had  happened,  he  was  swung  into 
the  air  and  sent  whirling  into  the  shallow 
water  of  Kotzebue  Sound,  gun  and  all.  Joe 
sprang  to  the  umiak.  "  Shove  off  !  "  he  said 
sharply,  and  putting  his  own  shoulder  to  the 
light  boat,  with  Harry's  help  it  slid  into  deep 
water  while  Joe  sprang  aboard.  A  roar  of 
laughter  went  up  from  the  crowd  on  shore  as 
the  discomfited  Eskimo  staggered  to  his  feet, 
and  tried  in  vain  to  use  his  wet  gun  on  the 
fast  receding  boat.  Then  a  moment  after, 
the  mood  of  the  crowd  changed,  and  they 
began  to  shoot,  but  none  of  the  shots  took 
effect.  The  wind  was  at  their  backs,  and 
under  steady  strokes  of  the  paddle  the  umiak 
was  soon  out  of  shooting  distance.  The  last 
the  two  boys  saw  of  the  great  trading  fair 
at  Hotham  Inlet  was  a  group  of  their  former 
companions  standing  on  the  beach  shooting 
at  them.  The  last  they  heard  was  the  uproar 


342  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

of  drunken  riot  and  occasional  rifle-shots  as 
the  land  blurred  in  the  distance  behind  them. 
They  were  free  once  more,  headed  south,  and 
the  dancing  waters  of  Kotzebue  Sound  flashed 
around  them  as  they  spread  their  deerskin 
sail  before  the  freshening  breeze. 

"  We  are  well  out  of  that,"  said  Joe, 
glancing  to  windward  with  a  sailor-man's  eye, 
"but  I  don't  exactly  like  the  looks  of  the 
weather." 

Harry  noted  the  gathering  clouds  to  north 
ward,  the  discontent  in  the  voice  of  the  wind 
overhead,  and  agreed  with  him.  The  shallow 
waters  of  the  sound  were  already  leaping  in 
a  jumble  of  waves,  from  whose  white  caps 
the  wind-snatched  spindrift  swept  to  leeward. 
Their  light  boat  danced  along  like  an  egg 
shell  before  the  wind,  safe  as  yet,  but  with  it 
he  well  knew  they  could  go  only  with  the 
gale.  They  were  bound  to  sail  before  it. 
After  all,  what  matter  ?  That  was  the  direc 
tion  in  which  they  wished  to  go,  and  the 
harder  it  blew  the  faster  they  would  go.  So 
while  Joe  stood  by  the  steering  paddle,  Harry 
busied  himself  in  making  all  snug  aboard, 
and  tried  not  to  fret  about  the  weather. 

Meanwhile  the  weather  was  fretting  all 
about  him.  An  hour,  two  hours  passed,  and 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  £43 

what  had  been  a  little  blow  grew  into  a  big 
one.  The  skin  boat,  light  as  a  cork,  fairly 
flew  before  it.  Often  it  seemed  to  skip  from 
wave  to  wave,  taxing  Joe's  skill  at  the  steer 
ing  paddle  to  the  uttermost  to  keep  it  head 
on.  To  turn  sidewise  to  the  wind  and  sea  was 
to  be  rolled  over  and  over  in  the  icy  waters 
and  be  lost.  Yet  Joe  kept  her  straight.  Now 
and  then  some  invisible  force  seemed  to  drag 
the  cockleshell  down,  and  a  rush  of  foam 
came  aboard,  but  she  rose  again,  and  Harry 
bailed  out  before  the  next  volume  of  water 
could  come  in.  It  was  wet  and  exciting 
work,  but  still  neither  boy  lost  his  head,  and 
still  they  kept  afloat.  There  was  a  hissing 
roar  in  the  waters  and  a  howl  of  the  wind 
overhead  that  made  it  difficult  to  hear  one's 
own  voice  even  when  shouting,  but  a  nod  of 
the  head  or  a  look  of  the  eye  was  enough 
for  a  command  from  the  skipper,  and  Harry 
obeyed  promptly  and  steadily.  Never  had  he 
admired  Joe  so  before.  The  sturdy  young 
whaleman  seemed  to  glow  with  power  as  he 
sat  erect  in  the  stern  of  the  umiak,  his  cap 
gone  and  his  long  hair  blown  about  his  set, 
watchful  face,  his  will  dominating  the  ele 
ments  and  shaping  their  fury  to  his  purpose. 
On  they  drove  through  a  period  of  time 


344  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

that  seemed  endless.  There  was  no  night 
to  fall,  else  Harry  was  sure  that  it  would  have 
come  and  gone,  and  still  Joe  steered,  erect 
and  immobile  as  the  Sphinx,  while  Harry 
bailed  till  he  felt  as  if  all  the  waters  of  Kot- 
zebue  Sound  must  have  come  into  the  boat 
and  been  thrown  out  again.  His  very  arms 
were  numb  with  weariness  and  the  chill  of 
it.  How  long  a  period  five  hours  is  can  be 
known  only  by  those  who  have  passed  it  in 
physical  discomfort  and  with  great  danger 
continually  threatening,  yet  even  such  a  period 
passes.  Five  hours,  ten  miles  an  hour  at  the 
very  least,  they  were  making  a  record  passage 
of  the  sound,  yet  the  lowering  clouds  and 
the  mist  blown  from  tempestuous  waves  gave 
them  no  glimpse  of  any  land. 

Once  Harry  thought  he  could  hear  a  dull 
booming  sound,  like  the  roar  of  cannon,  but 
he  could  not  be  sure.  The  strain  was  telling 
on  him,  he  knew,  and  he  laid  it  to  fancy. 
Then  after  a  time  he  forgot  it,  for  they  seemed 
to  enter  a  stretch  of  tremendous  cross  seas, 
seas  which  fairly  leaped  into  the  umiak  and 
filled  it  faster  than  he  could  bail  out.  He 
worked  with  the  tremendous  energy  of  de 
spair,  and  then  the  tumult  ceased  more  quickly 
than  it  had  arisen.  The  boat  seemed  gliding 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  345 

into  still  waters,  and  the  booming  roar  grew 
very  loud,  for  it  sounded  from  behind,  down 
the  wind.  He  looked  at  Joe  and  saw  his  face 
lose  its  look  of  grim  determination  for  the 
first  time  since  the  wind  had  begun  to  blow. 
Joe  nodded  his  head  over  his  left  shoulder, 
and  as  Harry  looked,  a  trailing  cloud  of  mist 
lifted  and  showed  a  rugged  cliff,  in  the  shel 
ter  of  which  they  were. 

The  umiak  had  made  port,  where,  they 
knew  not ;  it  was  enough  that  it  was  a  haven 
of  refuge.  The  boat  glided  gently  up  to 
a  shelving  beach  and  touched.  Harry  at 
tempted  to  spring  out,  and  fell  sprawling  to 
the  earth,  which  he  embraced,  partly  because 
he  was  so  glad  to  see  it,  but  mainly  because 
his  legs  were  so  cramped  and  numb  that  he 
could  not  use  them.  When  he  scrambled  to 
his  feet,  he  found  Joe  limping  painfully  out, 
much  like  an  old  man,  so  great  had  been  the 
strain  of  his  vigil,  so  cold  the  water  that  had 
deluged  him.  They  set  up  the  tent  in  a 
sheltered  nook,  and  Harry  made  a  fire  from 
driftwood,  which  was  plentiful.  He  had 
matches  in  a  waterproof  safe  in  his  pocket, 
else  their  plight  had  been  worse,  for  every 
thing  in  the  boat  was  wet  through  and  had 
been  for  hours.  They  made  a  meal  of  what 


346  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

they  had,  the  last  of  their  caribou  meat  and 
some  dried  fish,  put  great  driftwood  logs  on 
the  fire  in  front  of  their  tent  door,  turned  in 
beneath  the  canvas  in  its  grateful  warmth, 
and  slept  for  hours  and  hours,  utterly  ex 
hausted. 

The  storm  continued  for  two  days  more,  in 
which  they  did  little  except  keep  warm  and 
pile  driftwood  on  their  fire,  drying  out  their 
supplies  as  best  they  might.  These  were  in 
sad  shape.  The  flour  was  nearly  spoiled,  the 
sugar  and  salt  melted  and  mixed,  and  the 
bulk  of  their  matches  soaked.  These  last 
they  dried  with  much  care,  and  made  some  of 
them  serviceable  again,  but  the  most  of  their 
provisions  were  practically  ruined. 

When  the  storm  broke,  they  climbed  the 
hills  behind  them  and  looked  about.  Then 
their  wonder  was  great.  The  umiak  had  been 
driven  to  the  one  harbor  on  that  rocky  shore, 
the  one  spot  for  miles  to  the  east  or  west 
where  they  could  land  in  safety.  Had  they 
come  to  the  land  a  dozen  furlongs  either  side 
of  it,  the  surf  must  inevitably  have  over 
turned  their  frail  boat  and  drowned  them  in 
the  undertow.  The  discovery  chilled  them  at 
first,  —  death  had  been  so  very  near,  so  seem 
ingly  inevitable.  Then  it  heartened  them 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  347 

greatly.  They  felt  that  the  watchful  care 
of  Providence  was  over  them  still,  and  that 
its  aid  was  ever  present,  however  great  the 
unknown  dangers  about  them. 

Descending  the  hills  again,  they  took  their 
rifles  and  began  to  explore  the  little  inlet, 
following  it  back  into  the  hills,  and  keeping 
a  sharp  outlook  for  game,  which  they  sadly 
needed.  They  found  nothing  but  a  snow- 
bunting  or  two,  too  small  to  shoot  except  in 
extremity,  and  a  sort  of  gray  Arctic  hawk, 
which  promised  to  be  but  poor  eating.  Prob 
ably  there  would  be  ptarmigans  back  farther, 
but  they  did  not  see  any.  At  the  head  of  the 
inlet  they  found  a  brawling  stream  which  de 
scended  from  the  hills  over  mica-schist  ledges 
and  along  sands  that  sparkled  with  yellow 
mica.  Harry  sighted  this  mica  as  he  stooped 
to  drink  from  the  stream,  and  scooped  up  a 
handful  of  it  with  eagerness.  He  called  to 
Joe,  and  both  examined  it  closely,  but  it  was 
plainly  mica. 

"  What  did  you  expect  it  was  ? "  asked 
Joe. 

"  Well,"  replied  Harry,  "  the  same  as  you, 
judging  from  the  way  you  rushed  up  when 
you  saw  me  scoop  it  up." 

Then  they  both  laughed,  and  Joe  took  the 


348  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

yellow  seal  from  his  pocket  and  looked  at  it 
lovingly.  "  It  was  down  this  way  somewhere 
that  this  came  from,"  he  said.  "  What  we  Ve 
got  here  is  fool's  gold,  though." 

"  So  it  is,"  said  Harry.  "  All  the  same,  a 
mica-schist  country  is  liable  to  be  gold-bear 
ing.  We  had  a  course  in  mineralogy  at  the 
prep  school,  and  I  learned  about  such  things. 
What  do  you  say  if  we  prospect  for  a  day  ?  " 

They  would  better  have  been  hunting. 
They  knew  that,  but  the  gold  fever  is  a  strange 
thing.  The  germs  of  it  had  been  planted 
in  their  systems  by  the  purchase  of  the  sin 
gular  nugget  from  the  old  Kowak  River  chief ; 
now  the  sight  of  some  mica  in  a  stream  had 
stirred  the  dormant  microbes  into  action. 

They  tore  back  to  camp  and  brought  the 
umiak  paddle  to  use  as  a  rude  shovel.  They 
had  nothing  better.  Harry  also  brought  their 
one  pan.  Hunger  was  not'  to  be  thought  of, 
home  and  civilization  could  wait ;  they  had 
the  gold  fever.  There  is  surely  something 
in  the  Alaskan  air  that  makes  men  peculiarly 
susceptible  to  this  disease.  During  the  last 
fifteen  years  a  hundred  thousand  men  have 
left  home  and  friends,  lucrative  positions,  all 
the  comforts  of  "  God's  country,"  and  risked 
fortune,  health,  and  life  because  of  this  burn- 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  349 

ing  fever  in  their  veins.  Where  one  has 
succeeded  thousands  have  failed,  yet  still  they 
throng  to  the  wild  north,  driven  by  the  in 
satiable  thirst  for  sudden  wealth.  Though 
the  boys  did  not  know  it,  the  crest  of  this 
wave  of  hardy  immigrants,  wild  fortune- 
seekers,  and  adventurers  was  already  surging 
toward  them  from  the  south,  and  had  nearly 
reached  the  wild  coast  that  harbored  them. 
Perhaps  its  enthusiasm  had  preceded  them  in 
the  air.  Anyway,  they  had  the  gold  fever. 

They  dug  the  sparkling  micaceous  sand 
from  the  banks  of  the  little  creek,  and  Harry 
panned  it,  as  the  miners  say.  He  filled  the 
pan  with  it,  added  water,  and  by  whirling  and 
shaking  the  pan  and  flipping  the  water  over 
the  sides  of  it,  he  washed  out  all  the  lighter 
particles.  As  he  reached  the  bottom,  he  pro 
ceeded  more  carefully,  and  both  boys  watched 
the  result  with  eagerness.  To  "pan  gold" 
well  is  not  easy  and  requires  much  practice, 
but  almost  any  one  can  with  a  trial  or  two 
pan  it  roughly.  As  the  last  of  the  sand  was 
washed  away  by  the  whirling  water,  Harry 
set  up  a  shout. 

"Black  sand!"  he  said.  "We've  got 
black  sand  !  " 

"  Humph  !  "  said  Joe,  much  disappointed. 


350  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALER^ 

"  What  of  it  ?  It  is  n't  black  sand  we  want, 
it  's  gold." 

"Yes,"  replied  Harry  excitedly,  "but  that 's 
a  sign.  The  black  sand  always  comes  with 
the  gold  in  placer  mines.  Wait  till  I  wash 
this  sand  away." 

He  whirled  the  pan  with  great  care,  and 
the  heavy  sand  gradually  disappeared.  Then 
the  boys  looked  at  each  other  and  shook 
hands.  In  the  bottom  of  the  pan  lay  several 
yellow  flecks.  Gold  without  a  doubt,  but 
not  much  of  it.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  their 
discovery  amounted  to  very  little.  Scarcely 
a  stream  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  from  Cen 
tral  America  to  Cape  Lisburne,  but  in  it  you 
may  find  these  occasional  flecks  of  gold.  To 
find  it  in  paying  quantities  is  altogether 
another  matter,  as  many  a  gray-bearded  pro 
spector  has  learned  after  years  of  toil  and 
rough  life.  But  the  boys  were  too  young  and 
inexperienced  to  realize  this.  They  thought 
that  fortune  was  verily  within  their  grasp. 
They  prospected  up  and  down  the  stream,  and 
never  realized  that  they  had  not  eaten  dinner 
and  were  very  hungry. 

Yet  wherever  they  went  they  found  no 
thing  but  these  faint  prospects,  and  after  long 
hours,  fatigue  and  hunger  finally  asserted 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  351 

themselves  and  they  started  back  for  camp. 
As  they  tramped,  weary  and  disappointed, 
they  came  round  a  bend  in  the  creek  and 
Joe's  eyes  lighted  up.  There  on  the  water's 
edge,  strolling  along  a  clay  bottom  thinly 
strewn  with  micaceous  sand,  were  three  ptar 
migans,  picking  up  bits  of  gravel  for  the  good 
of  their  crops,  as  such  birds  do.  They  looked 
large  and  plump  in  the  eyes  of  two  hungry 
boys. 

"  Lie  low,"  whispered  Joe,  "  and  we'll  have 
one  of  those  birds." 

They  watched  them  eagerly  from  behind  a 
sheltering  mound  on  the  bank.  The  birds 
pecked  leisurely  for  a  while,  then  went  toward 
the  bank  and  settled  contentedly  beneath 
some  dwarf  willows  in  the  sun.  Paddle  in 
hand,  Joe  slipped  noiselessly  forward,  got  be 
hind  the  clump  of  willows,  crept  round  it,  and 
with  a  sudden  blow  of  the  paddle  laid  out  a 
ptarmigan.  The  others  flew. 

"  There  !  "  said  Joe.  "  Here 's  a  good  bite 
for  dinner.  Let's  hurry  back." 

With  renewed  energy  they  hustled  back  to 
the  camp,  three  quarters  of  a  mile  away,  and 
soon  had  the  ptarmigan  broiling  over  a  good 
fire.  They  made  some  rude  flapjacks  with 
the  remnants  of  their  spoiled  flour,  and  ate  the 
bird  pretty  nearly  bones  and  all. 


352  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  There,"  said  Harry,  "  I  feel  better.  Pity 
we  did  not  have  the  rifle  along.  We  could 
have  had  the  two  others.  However,  they  're  up 
there  somewhere  and  will  do  for  another 
meal.  Wonder  what  these  fellows  find  to 
eat." 

He  picked  up  the  crop  of  the  ptarmigan 
and  opened  it  with  his  knife.  "  Buds,  bugs, 
and  gravel,"  he  said.  "  Not  a  very  tempting 
diet,  but  we  may  have  to  come  to  it  ourselves. 
Hello,  what's  this?" 

In  the  gravel  in  the  bird's  crop  were  three 
or  four  pebbles,  not  much  larger  than  grains 
of  rice,  but  flattened  and  yellow.  They  ex 
amined  these  with  growing  excitement. 

"  It 's  gold ! "  exclaimed  Harry.  "  It 's  gold ! 
we  've  been  prospecting  in  the  wrong  places." 

"  I  should  say  we  had,"  said  Joe,  giggling 
somewhat  hysterically ;  "  but  we  can't  kill 
ptarmigans  enough  to  make  a  gold  mine." 

"  No,  no,"  cried  Harry,  too  much  in  earnest 
to  appreciate  a  joke.  "  It 's  the  clay  bottom. 
The  birds  picked  up  the  nuggets  there.  Gold 
sinks  through  sand  in  the  stream  just  as  it 
does  in  the  pan.  We  should  have  gone  down 
to  'bed  rock,'  as  the  miners  say.  There's 
where  it  is.  Come  on  back  !  " 

The  sun  had  swung  low  to  set  behind  the 


THE  MEETING  OF  TRIBES  353 

northern  cliffs,  and  it  lacked  but  two  hours  of 
midnight.  But  there  would  be  no  darkness 
in  that  latitude  in  late  June,  and  forgetting 
fatigue,  they  hurried  back  to  the  spot  which 
they  now  called  Ptarmigan  Bend.  Here  a 
bed  of  stiff  clay  seemed  to  underlie  the  bed 
of  the  stream,  leading  down  to  a  mica-schist 
ledge  over  which  the  waters  rippled  as  if  from 
an  artificial  pond. 

From  the  edge  of  this  little  lagoon  they 
scraped  sand  and  pebbles,  getting  well  down 
into  the  clay  with  the  now  frayed  and  worn 
paddle.  The  clay  flowed  from  the  pan  in  a 
muddy  stream,  the  sand  easily  followed,  and 
they  scraped  out  the  larger  gravel  with  care, 
panning  the  sand  beneath  it  again.  Then 
they  set  down  the  pan  and  shook  hands  with 
each  other  once  more. 

In  the  bottom  of  the  pan  were  a  dozen  of 
the  flat  nuggets  such  as  had  been  in  the 
ptarmigan's  crop,  and  one  large  one,  the  size 
of  a  large  bean  !  They  were  on  bed  rock 
surely,  and  the  gold  that  had  tantalized  them 
for  a  time  seemed  about  to  yield  itself  up  in 
quantity. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

STAKING   OUT   A   FORTUNE 

THE  red  sun  sank  behind  the  northern  cliffs, 
hid  there  three  hours,  and  slanted  eastward 
and  upward  again,  and  still  the  boys  toiled 
on,  oblivious.  Panful  after  panful  of  the 
sand  they  scraped  from  the  clay  bottom,  now 
in  the  edge  of  the  stream,  now  back  toward 
the  tundra,  and  always  they  found  gold.  At 
length  their  rude  paddle-shovel  was  worn  to  a 
frazzled  stick  and  they  themselves  were  in  not 
much  better  condition,  but  in  Harry's  worn 
bandana  handkerchief  was  a  store  of  coarse 
and  fine  gold  and  nuggets  that  was  quite 
heavy. 

Fatigue  will  finally,  however,  get  the  bet 
ter  even  of  the  gold  fever,  and  along  in 
mid-morning,  pale  and  hollow-eyed,  quite  ex 
hausted  with  toil  and  excitement,  but  trium 
phant,  they  stumbled  down  to  camp  and 
turned  in,  too  tired  to  eat,  —  indeed,  there  was 
little  but  damaged  flour  that  they  could  eat. 
They  slept  ten  hours  without  stirring,  and 


STAKING  OUT  A   FORTUNE  355 

the  sun  was  low  in  the  northwest  when  they 
awoke. 

Joe  rubbed  his  eyes  open  and  sat  up.  He 
found  Harry,  the  bandana  in  his  lap,  poring 
over  the  store  of  gold. 

"  Gold,"  said  Harry,  "  is  worth  about  six 
teen  dollars  to  the  ounce,  as  the  miners  reckon 
it.  I  should  say  we  had  about  three  ounces 
here.  Forty-eight  dollars,  —  not  bad  for  a 
first  day's  work  !  " 

"  Um-m,  no,"  said  Joe ;  "  but  I  wish  you  'd 
take  part  of  it  and  go  down  to  the  store  and 
buy  some  provisions.  I  'm  hungry.*' 

Harry  looked  at  him.  Was  Joe  daft? 
But  no,  Joe  was  the  saner  of  the  two. 

"  We  've  got  gold,"  Joe  continued,  "  and 
we  've  got  grit,  —  at  least  some  of  mine  's 
left,  though  not  much,  but  what  we  have  n't 
got  is  grub.  Seems  to  me  the  next  thing  to 
look  out  for  is  something  to  eat.  The  gold 
will  wait  a  day  for  us,  but  there  is  something 
inside  me  that  says  the  other  won't.  We  'd 
better  go  prospecting  for  food  this  time." 

Harry  put  his  hand  on  his  stomach.  "  Joe," 
he  said,  "  I  declare  you  are  right.  You  gen 
erally  are.  Fact  is,  I  was  so  crazy  over  this 
yellow  stuff  in  the  handkerchief  that  I  had  for 
gotten  everything  else.  We  '11  hunt  to-day." 


356  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

They  made  a  sorry  breakfast  of  some  heavy 
cakes  made  from  the  last  of  the  spoiled  flour, 
then  took  their  rifles  and  went  down  toward 
the  sea.  The  cakes  were  heavy  within  them, 
but  their  hearts  were  light.  They  ranged 
through  a  little  gully  seaward  and  to  the  east, 
seeking  for  ptarmigans  but  finding  none. 
They  might  have  hunted  for  the  other  two  up 
at  Ptarmigan  Bend,  but  each  felt  that  it  would 
not  do.  The  moment  they  sighted  the  dig 
gings  it  was  probable  that  they  would  fall  to 
mining  again,  and  they  knew  this  and  kept 
away.  Through  the  gully  they  reached  the 
shore,  a  narrow  strip  of  pebbly  beach  at  the 
foot  of  rough  cliffs,  and  here  in  long  rows, 
sitting  on  their  eggs  on  the  narrow  ledges, 
they  found  scores  of  puffins.  They  are  stu 
pid  little  fellows,  sitting  bolt  upright  on 
greenish,  blotched  eggs  that  are  not  unlike 
those  of  the  crow,  but  larger.  The  flesh  of 
the  puffin  is  not  bad  eating  when  one  is  hungry, 
and  the  boys  found  these  so  tame  that  they 
hardly  flew  at  a  rifle-shot.  In  half  an  hour 
they  had  a  dozen,  and  tramped  back  to  camp, 
well  satisfied  that  they  need  not  starve.  By 
the  time  two  birds  were  cooked  and  eaten  the 
sun  was  behind  the  cliffs,  and  the  gray  of  the 
Arctic  midnight  was  over  all.  They  sprang 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  357 

to  their  feet  refreshed  and  about  to  plan  to 
resume  digging,  when  Joe  held  up  his  hand 
with  a  look  of  consternation  on  his  face.  A 
long  unheard  but  familiar  sound  came  to  the 
ears  of  both  boys,  and  Harry's  face  reflected 
the  dismay  that  was  in  Joe's. 

The  sound  was  the  rhythmic  click  of  oars 
in  rowlocks,  and  it  came  up  the  placid  waters 
of  the  inlet  from  the  sea. 

A  few  days  before,  how  gladly  they  would 
have  heard  that  sound.  Oars  in  rowlocks 
meant  white  men.  Eskimos  and  Indians  pad 
dle.  Each  stepped  to  his  rifle  and  saw  that 
it  was  loaded,  and  then  they  stood  ready  to 
defend  their  claim  against  all  comers.  So 
quickly  does  a  white  man  distrust  another 
when  there  is  gold  at  stake. 

A  moment,  and  a  boat  came  round  the 
bend,  a  rude  boat,  built  of  rough  boards  and 
well  loaded,  but  with  only  one  occupant. 
This  seemed  to  be  an  oldish  man,  a  white 
man,  roughly  dressed.  He  rowed  steadily 
but  wearily,  without  looking  up.  By  and  by 
the  bow  of  the  boat  struck  the  beach  not  far 
away,  and  the  man  turned  his  head  over  his 
shoulder  toward  the  bow  and  seemed  to  speak 
to  the  air.  Then  he  nodded  his  head,  stepped 
out,  drew  his  boat  up  a  little,  and  came  toward 
them. 


358  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  Morning,  gents  !  "  he  said.  "  How  you 
finding  it  ?  " 

The  boys  put  down  their  rifles  and  greeted 
him  cordially.  They  had  nothing  to  fear  from 
this  little  unarmed  man  who  limped  as  he 
walked.  After  all  it  was  good  to  see  a  white 
man,  and  his  coming  presaged  much  for  their 
safe  return  to  civilization. 

"  You  're  not  miners/'  he  said,  after  look 
ing  them  over  keenly. 

"  No,"  replied  Joe,  "  not  exactly.  We  're 
whalemen.  We  were  wrecked  up  on  the  Arc 
tic  coast  about  two  years  ago,  and  we  're  work 
ing  our  way  back  to  civilization." 

"  Want  to  know ! "  exclaimed  the  other. 
"  Well,  you  're  most  to  it  now.  Civilization 
is  working  right  this  way  pretty  fast,  that  is, 
if  you  've  a  mind  to  call  it  that." 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?  "  asked  Joe 
in  wonder. 

"  Mean  ?  "  replied  the  little  man.  "  I  mean 
that  there  's  sixty  thousand  people  up  in  this 
country  at  this  minute,  only  none  of  'em  have 
got  quite  up  to  here  except  me.  They  're 
piling  into  Nome  as  fast  as  the  steamers  can 
bring  them,  and  they  're  spreading  over  the 
country  as  fast  as  horse  and  foot  will  take 
them.  It 's  the  biggest  rush  the  Alaska  dig 
gings  ever  saw." 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  359 

"  Nome  !  "  queried  Joe.  "  Where  's  that  ?  " 

The  little  man  looked  at  him  a  moment. 
"  Oh,  I  forgot,"  he  said.  "  You  've  been  away 
two  or  three  years,  and  it  all  happened  since 
then.  Nome  is  about  two  hundred  miles 
south  of  this  by  sea.  I  've  just  rowed  in  from 
there.  They  found  beach  diggings  there  a 
year  ago  that  were  mighty  rich,  and  the  whole 
earth  piled  up  there  this  spring.  You  can't 
get  a  foot  of  ground  anywhere  down  there 
for  fifty  miles.  It 's  all  staked.  I  came  in 
there  late  last  fall  and  could  n't  get  anything 
then.  Got  a  notion  in  my  head  that  there  was 
good  ground  north  here  and  started  across 
tundra  in  the  winter.  Froze  my  feet  and 
had  to  crawl  back  on  my  hands  and  knees. 
Started  out  again  this  spring  with  this  boat. 
Paid  a  hundred  dollars  for  it.  Rowed  along 
shore  as  far  as  Cape  Prince  of  Wales.  Father- 
in-law  got  aboard  the  boat  there,  and  he  's 
been  sitting  in  the  bow  ever  since  telling  me 
where  to  row.  He  directed  me  here.  Fa 
ther-in-law  has  been  dead  these  ten  years." 

Joe  and  Harry  looked  at  each  other,  and 
the  little  man  noted  it  and  smiled  sadly. 

"  I  know,"  he  said,  "  it  sounds  queer.  Well, 
it  is  queer.  Course  't  ain't  so,  but  it  seems  so. 
Ain't  nobody  there,  it's  jest  my  notion.  A 


360  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

man  gets  queer  up  in  this  country  if  he 's  too 
much  alone.  I  reckon  it 's  a  sign,  though, 
and  I  'm  going  to  find  something  good.  Now, 
I  'm  hungry.  Will  you  eat  with  me  ?  My 
name  's  Blenship,  what 's  yourn  ?  " 

The  boys  helped  Blenship  get  his  outfit 
ashore,  assured  that  they  had  found  a  friend. 
He  had  a  pick,  two  shovels,  two  regular  gold 
pans,  a  queer  machine  something  like  a  baby's 
wooden  cradle  which  he  called  a  rocker,  and 
a  good  quantity  of  civilized  provisions  and 
utensils,  besides  a  camp  outfit.  The  boat 
was  heavily  loaded,  and  it  was  a  wonder  to 
them  how  he  had  made  the  long  trip  in  it  in 
safety.  This  he  could  not  tell  much  about. 
He  had  simply  "  followed  directions."  He 
had  "  sour  dough  "  bread  of  his  own  cook 
ing,  and  it  did  not  take  him  long  to  broil 
some  ham  in  a  little  spider.  Then  he  invited 
the  boys  to  fall  to  with  him,  and  they  were 
not  shy  about  doing  it.  What  if  they  had 
just  eaten  puffin  ?  Real  bread  and  ham  !  It 
made  them  ravenous. 

After  the  meal  they  told  Blenship  of  their 
discovery.  His  eyes  glistened  at  sight  of  the 
nuggets,  but  he  did  not  seem  much  surprised. 

"  Just  as  I  expected,"  he  said.  "  I  Jve  come 
at  the  right  time  for  you,  though.  You  want 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  3C1 

to  stake  that  ground  right  away,  and  then 
I'll  stake  what's  left.  We  can't  be  too 
quick  about  it,  either.  You  may  see  forty 
men  coming  over  the  hill  at  any  minute.  If 
you  got  all  this  with  a  wooden  stick  and  a 
bread  pan,  there  's  stuff  enough  there  for  all 
of  us.  Wait  a  minute,  though,  let 's  see  what 
father-in-law  says." 

He  stepped  down  to  his  boat  for  a  moment, 
then  came  back. 

"  Father-in-law  is  gone,"  he  said.  "  Could  n't 
raise  him  anywhere.  Guess  this  is  the  place 
he  meant  for  me  to  come  to.  No  need  of  his 
staying  round,  long  as  the  job  's  done.  Now 
let 's  stake  that  ground,  then  we  '11  be  safe. 
You  are  entitled  to  five  claims.  One  of  you 
is  the  discoverer.  He  can  stake  discovery 
claim  and  number  one  above  and  number  one 
below ;  then  the  other  can  have  one  above 
him  and  one  below  him.  That 's  all  you  are 
good  for.  Then  I  come  in  with  one  above 
and  one  below,  and  I  've  got  powers  of  at 
torney  enough  in  my  pocket  to  stake  all  the 
rest  of  the  creek.  Got  about  forty  men  to 
give  me  powers  of  attorney  when  I  left  on 
this  trip.  They  get  half  of  each  claim  I  stake 
for  them.  I  get  the  other  half,  which  ain't  so 
bad  in  this  case.  Come  on." 


362  THE  YOUNG   ICE   WHALERS 

They  worked  steadily  for  several  days, 
cutting  and  shaping  stakes  from  driftwood, 
measuring  distances  carefully  with  Blenship's 
fifty-foot  tape,  posting  location  notices,  and 
now  and  then  stopping  to  prospect  a  locality. 
Blenship  always  went  down  to  "bed  rock" 
for  his  prospects.  He  handled  a  pan  with 
the  marvelous  skill  of  an  old  timer,  and  his 
eyes  always  glistened  at  the  result. 

"  Boys,"  he  declared  one  day  enthusiastic 
ally,  "  this  is  the  richest  creek  the  world  ever 
saw,  I  believe.  I  want  you  to  elect  me  recorder 
of  this  district.  We  '11  call  it  the  Arctic  Dis 
trict,  and  I  have  a  notion  that  I  'd  like  to  call 
this  '  Candle  Creek,'  'cause  its  prospects  are 
so  bright.  Then  I  '11  record  the  claims  duly, 
and  we  '11  be  all  registered  and  can  hold  every 
thing  according  to  law.  What  do  you  say  ?  " 

The  boys  were  only  too  glad  to  thus  find  a 
mentor  and  friend,  and  cheerfully  agreed  to 
everything.  An  Alaska  mining  claim,  accord 
ing  to  United  States  law,  consists  of  twenty 
acres,  generally  laid  out  in  a  parallelogram, 
330  feet  each  side  of  the  creek,  making  a 
width  of  660  in  all.  Their  five  claims  meant 
a  hundred  acres,  and,  if  even  moderately  rich, 
were  a  fortune.  In  the  end  they  had  the 
entire  creek  staked  from  source  to  mouth,  the 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  3C3 

number  of  powers  of  attorney  which  Blenship 
produced  being  prodigious. 

In  spite  of  the  hard  work,  perhaps  because 
they  were  living  well  on  civilized  food,  they 
never  seemed  to  tire,  and  were  as  frisky  as 
young  colts.  Ten  days  had  passed,  and  never 
a  sign  of  the  invasion  of  prospectors  which 
Blenship  had  so  confidently  predicted.  Since 
the  father-in-law  episode  the  little  man  had 
given  no  signs  of  his  "  queerness,"  unless  this 
story  of  thousands  to  the  south  were  one.  On 
the  other  hand,  he  seemed  very  sane  and 
shrewd,  and  kindly  in  all  ways.  He  shared 
his  provisions  in  return  for  help  in  staking 
his  numerous  claims,  and  the  boys  could  see 
that  his  advice  was  friendly  and  worth  follow 
ing.  The  day  the  last  stake  was  driven  he  in 
sisted  that  they  celebrate,  and  got  up  a  boun 
tiful  meal  with  his  own  hand,  making  a  bread 
pudding  with  real  raisins  from  his  stores,  which 
filled  the  boys  with  unalloyed  delight. 

"  There ! "  he  said,  as  he  lighted  his  pipe 
after  the  meal  was  finished,  "  now  we  're  fixed. 
If  old  Tom  Lane  comes  up  here  and  wants  the 
earth,  he  can  have  it,  but  he  '11  have  to  pay 
good  for  it.  You  and  I  could  work  those 
claims  and  take  out  a  few  hundred  dollars' 
worth  of  gold  a  day  until  the  ground  freezes 


364  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

up,  and  then  we  wouldn't  more'n  pay  our 
expenses  up  here  and  back  and  the  cost  of 
living.  That  is  n't  the  way  money  is  made 
in  the  mining  business.  You  just  stake  the 
claims  and  hold  on  to  them  until  the  man 
comes  along  who  has  the  millions  to  work  'em 
in  a  big  way.  There 's  several  of  those  men 
up  in  Nome  already,  but  the  king  of  them  all 
is  old  Tom  Lane.  He 's  got  his  men  out  spy 
ing  round  all  over  the  country,  and  it  won't  be 
long  before  one  of  them  drops  on  to  this  place. 
Then  we  '11  drive  a  bargain  that  '11  make  the 
old  man's  eyes  stick  out.  Meantime  I  '11  just 
show  you  boys  how  to  build  and  work  a  rocker, 
and  we  '11  get  out  a  few  hundred  a  day  and 
wait  developments." 

Blenship  showed  them  how  to  handle  the 
rocker  that  very  day,  and  left  them  at  Ptar 
migan  Bend  gleefully  running  sand  through 
it  while  he  prospected  his  various  claims  more 
thoroughly. 

A  miner's  rocker  is  ingenious  in  its  sim 
plicity.  It  is  generally  a  wooden  box,  having 
a  rough  sieve-like  hopper  at  the  top,  and  an 
inclined  plane  of  canvas  within.  You  shovel 
the  sand  into  the  hopper,  then  pour  in  water 
and  rock  gently.  The  water  washes  the  sand 
down  along  the  inclined  plane,  where  riffles 


STAKING  OUT  A   FORTUNE  365 

catch  the  heavy  gold,  while  the  sand  washes 
over  and  out  at  the  bottom.  It  is  a  simple 
matter  to  work  this,  though,  like  the  gold 
pan,  its  perfect  manipulation  requires  much 
skill  and  judgment.  At  the  end  of  an  hour 
the  boys  made  their  first  clean-up,  and  were 
delighted  at  the  amount  of  gold  that  lay  yel 
low  in  the  riffles.  They  worked  thus  with 
great  glee  till  Blenship  returned,  long  past 
the  supper  hour.  He  inspected  the  results, 
and  even  he  was  roused  to  enthusiasm  at  the 
quantity  of  gold  that  they  had. 

"  I  declare,"  said  he,  "  it 's  about  ten 
ounces,  and  most  all  small  nuggets.  Proba 
bly  as  much  more  fine  gold  went  right  through. 
You  've  been  rocking  too  hard.  A  rocker  is 
like  a  woman ;  you '  ve  got  to  humor  her  or 
she  won't  work  well.  Let  me  try  the  tailings." 

He  panned  the  heap  of  sand  that  had  gone 
through  the  rocker,  and  showed  them  the  fine 
gold  still  left  in  it. 

"You  only  got  about  half  on't,"  he  said. 
"  Geewhillikins !  but  that  little  pond  is  a 
pocket  for  you.  There 's  a  young  million  right 
in  a  few  rods,  or  I  miss  my  guess.  I  've  got 
some  rich  spots  upstream  myself,  but  they  ain't 
in  it  with  this  one.  I  'd  like  to  try  some  sluic 
ing  on  that.  It  would  be  dead  easy.  You 


366  THE   YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

could  dam  the  creek  at  that  little  gap  up  above 
and  get  at  all  this  clay  bottom,  and  have  plenty 
of  water  for  the  sluice.  How  would  it  do  for 
me  to  go  into  partnership  with  you  boys  for 
a  time,  and  we  try  this  thing?  Reckon  we  could 
fix  up  some  kind  of  a  trade,  could  n't  we?" 

"  What  do  you  think  ?  "  said  Joe  to  Harry. 

"I  think,"  answered  Harry,  "that  Mr. 
Blenship  is  more  than  kind  to  us.  I  for  one 
will  heartily  accede  to  any  agreement  that  he 
wants  to  make." 

"  And  so  will  I,"  Joe  assented  warmly. 

"  Listen  to  that,  now,"  said  Blenship  in 
mock  despair.  "  Here  I  was  planning  to 
drive  a  hard  bargain  with  them,  and  they  put 
me  on  my  honor.  Anything  I  want  to  do  ! 
Humph  !  Well,  this  is  what  I  propose.  Sup 
pose  we  get  to  work  and  sluice  here  at  Par 
tridge  Bend.  You  give  me  a  hundred  dollars 
a  day  every  day  of  actual  sluicing,  as  general 
manager ;  you  take  the  rest.  If  you  ain't 
suited  at  the  end  of  the  first  three  days,  we  '11 
call  the  bargain  off." 

"  Agreed !  "  said  Harry.  "  Agreed !  "  said 
Joe,  and  they  set  to  work. 

They  blocked  the  stream  with  stones,  and 
stuffed  tundra  moss  into  the  crevices,  then 
piled  turf  over  the  whole.  With  the  pick 


STAKING   OUT  A  FORTUNE  3G7 

they  hewed  a  gully  in  the  mica-schist  ledge 
that  dammed  the  little  pond  and  let  the  water 
out.  Then  they  knocked  Blenship's  boat  to 
pieces  and  made  a  rude  sluice  with  the  boards. 
This  they  braced  upon  driftwood  logs  set  on 
the  right  slant  for  sluicing.  Blenship,  skill 
ful  as  a  woodsman  with  his  axe,  hewed  more 
sluice  timber  out  of  driftwood  logs,  and  finally 
the  structure  was  complete.  There  were  still 
no  signs  of  other  prospectors,  and  the  boys 
began  to  think  Blenship's  story  of  the  thou 
sands  in  the  country  just  south  of  them  must 
be  another  delusion  of  his. 

Finally,  everything  was  complete.  Blen 
ship  showed  them  how  to  shovel  into  the 
sluice  so  that  enough  but  not  too  much  dirt 
should  be  present  in  it,  and  then  turned  on 
the  water.  For  two  hours  the  boys  swung 
the  shovels  lustily,  and  found  it  very  fatiguing 
work  indeed.  Blenship  managed  the  flow  of 
the  water  so  that  it  should  work  to  the  best 
advantage  during  this  time.  Then  when  the 
boys  were  thoroughly  weary  he  shut  it  off 
and  called  a  halt.  Joe  and  Harry  rested  on 
their  shovels,  puffing. 

"  Time  to  clean  up,"  he  said.  "  Now 
we'll  see  whether  I'm  worth  a  hundred  dol 
lars  a  day  or  not." 


368  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

With  water  in  his  gold  pan  he  washed  the 
remaining  sand  from  riffle  to  riffle,  and  finally 
collected  the  gold  in  a  yellow  heap  in  the  pan 
at  the  bottom  of  the  sluice.  It  was  quite  a 
little  heap,  and  Blenship  weighed  it,  pan  and 
all,  in  his  hand,  thoughtfully. 

"  Reckon  there 's  about  three  pounds  of 
it,"  he  said  coolly.  "Say  seven  hundred 
dollars." 

Joe  and  Harry  looked  over  his  shoulder 
with  bulging  eyes.  Seven  hundred  dollars ! 
Two  hours'  sluicing!  Neither  before  had 
realized  the  full  import  of  their  good  fortune. 
If  they  could  do  that  in  two  hours,  —  in  a 
day,  a  week,  a  month !  Their  heads  whirled. 
And  then  all  three  started. 

A  shadow  had  fallen  across  the  pan. 

Blenship  whirled  sullenly  and  savagely, 
reaching  toward  his  hip  with  an  instinctive 
movement,  though  no  weapon  hung  there. 
Then  he  laughed. 

"  Oh,  it 's  you,  Griscome,  is  it  ?  Be'n 
expecting  some  of  you  fellows  this  ten  days. 
Come  to  camp  and  have  a  bite  with  us  ?  " 

"  No,  thanks,"  said  the  other,  a  tall  man 
in  a  blue  shirt,  stout  boots,  and  a  slouch 
hat,  "my  outfit's  back  here.  Pretty  good 
clean-up  for  a  little  work." 


STAKING  OUT  A   FORTLX1.  369 

"That's  so,"  replied  Blenship.  "And  that 
ain't  all.  The  whole  creek  's  like  that  from 
top  to  bottom,  and  it 's  staked  from  bottom 
to  top,  and  recorded.  I'm  the  recorder. 
We  'd  'a*  staked  the  benches,  only  the  powers 
of  attorney  give  out.  Better  stake  'em, 
they  're  likely  good." 

"  Much  obliged,"  said  the  other.  "  Guess 
I  will.  So  long." 

He  went  out  of  sight  over  the  hill  in  long, 
swift  strides. 

"  What  are  the  benches  ? "  asked  Joe. 
"  Will  he  stake  them  ?  Who  is  he  ?  " 

"  One  at  a  time,  young  feller,"  said  Blen 
ship.  "  He  is  one  of  Pap  Lane's  men.  The 
benches  are  the  hillside  claims.  He  may 
stake  'em,  but  I  doubt  it.  He  won't  wait. 
He  '11  light  out  across  tundra  as  fast  as  his 
horse  can  carry  him,  and  tell  his  boss  about 
this.  Meanwhile  we  can  wait,  and  we  might 
as  well  get  what 's  coming  to  us.  If  one  of 
you  boys  will  try  and  handle  that  water,  I  '11 
show  you  how  to  shovel." 

Joe  thought  himself  a  good  deal  of  a  man, 
but  he  could  not  keep  up  with  the  other  in 
shoveling.  He  hung  sturdily  to  his  task, 
however,  and  for  three  hours  more  shoveled 
wet  sand  and  clayey  gravel  into  the  sluice 


370  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

while  Harry  regulated  the  water  according 
to  occasional  directions  from  Blenship.  The 
latter  instructed  Joe  in  the  best  methods  of 
scraping  bed  rock,  and  showed  him  how  the 
best  of  the  gold  was  liable  to  lie  in  the  little 
hollows  of  the  clay,  and  be  missed  by  an  inex 
perienced  hand.  At  the  end  of  three  hours 
Blenship  ordered  a  cessation  of  work  once 
more,  much  to  Joe's  relief,  for  five  hours  of 
labor  with  the  shovel  had  thoroughly  exhausted 
him.  He  lay  back  on  the  tundra  while  Harry 
and  Blenship  cleaned  up.  The  result  showed 
Blenship' s  superior  skill  in  mining,  and  the 
longer  run.  It  was  nearly  double  the  other. 

"  Guess  we  '11  call  it  a  day's  work,"  said  he. 
tf  Pretty  near  two  thousand  dollars.  Have  I 
earned  my  hundred  ?  " 

The  boys  thought  he  had  indeed,  and 
pressed  him  to  take  more  for  his  share,  but 
he  resolutely  refused.  In  the  tent  he  took 
from  his  outfit  a  pair  of  miner's  scales  and 
weighed  out  his  wages  carefully,  putting  them 
in  a  little  chamois  bag  in  his  bosom.  The 
balance  he  turned  over  to  the  boys,  and  they 
stowed  it  in  the  bandana  with  what  they 
already  had. 

"  You  see,"  said  Blenship,  "  the  better 
showing  your  little  pocket  makes  in  the  next 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  371 

ten  days,  the  better  price  the  whole  creek  will 
bring  when  Pap  Lane  or  the  Alaska  Commer 
cial  Company  or  some  of  those  fellows  come 
up  here  to  buy  it." 

"  But  why  should  we  sell  ?  "  asked  Joe. 

"  Young  feller,"  said  Blenship,  "  don't  you 
make  no  mistake.  If  you  can  sell  out  your 
share  of  this  creek  at  a  good  price,  you 
do  it.  You  Ve  got  a  little  spot  that  's 
mighty  rich.  The  rest  of  your  claim  may 
not  pay  for  the  labor  of  working  it.  Two 
months  from  now  it  will  be  frozen  up,  and 
will  stay  so  for  nine  months  more.  A  man 
with  a  million  behind  him  can  take  this  creek 
and  work  it  to  advantage.  You  and  I  might 
peck  at  it  for  ten  years  and  then  not  get  a 
living  out  of  it.  If  you  get  a  good  chance, 
sell." 

As  if  in  proof  of  what  Blenship  said,  the 
next  day  it  rained,  the  swelling  waters  car 
ried  out  their  rude  dam,  and  it  was  three  days 
more  before  they  got  it  repaired  and  began 
sluicing  again.  Yet  when  they  did,  they  took 
out  three  thousand  in  a  single  day.  The 
next  day  it  was  only  a  thousand,  because  they 
had  used  up  part  of  their  ground  and  had 
to  move  their  sluices,  which  took  time.  But 
on  the  third  they  found  a  hollow  in  the  clay 


372  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

bottom  that  was  a  veritable  treasure  house, 
and  yielded  up  over  five  thousand  dollars  in 
fine  gold  and  nuggets. 

That  morning  three  men  came  over  the 
hills  with  packs  on  their  backs.  They  camped 
near  by  and  examined  the  notices  with  much 
disgust.  It  did  not  please  them  that  the 
whole  creek  was  staked. 

Blenship  greeted  them  jovially,  showed 
them  his  records  in  proof  of  the  validity  of 
the  claims,  and  advised  them  to  stake  the 
benches,  which  they  did.  They  prospected 
these  and  found  a  certain  amount  of  gold 
there.  Others  came,  on  foot  and  with  pack- 
horses, — evidently  the  story  had  spread.  The 
place  began  to  assume  quite  a  mining-camp 
air.  Meanwhile  Blenship  and  his  lieutenants 
worked  on  industriously.  They  were  ques 
tioned  much,  but  not  otherwise  disturbed. 
The  newcomers  were  as  yet  too  busy  pros 
pecting  and  staking  ground  for  themselves. 

One  day  Harry  dropped  his  shovel  with  a 
start.  The  long  roar  of  a  steam  whistle 
sounded  from  the  sea.  A  steamer  !  How  it 
brought  back  memories  of  the  Bowhead,  now 
scattered  in  ruin  along  the  Arctic  shore,  and 
through  her  the  home  thought  again.  Sup 
pose  Captain  Nickerson  should  be  aboard. 


STAKING  OUT  A   FORTUNE  373 

Perhaps  he  was  bound  north  once  more  in 
search  of  them.  The  bustle  of  the  new  camp 
and  the  glamour  of  the  greed  of  gold  slipped 
from  him  like  a  garment,  and  his  soul  soared 
from  it,  free,  back  to  the  home  fireside  and 
his  father  and  mother.  The  voice  of  Blen- 
ship  recalled  him. 

"Come  on,  boy,"  he  said  kindly;  "  let 's 
keep  her  a-going.  I  reckon  that 's  old  Pap 
Lane  come  up  in  his  steamer  to  see  about  this 
new  strike.  We  want  to  have  a  good  clean 
up  just  going  on  when  he  strikes  camp." 

An  hour  later  Blenship  stood  by  his  tent 
door  talking  with  a  square-shouldered,  reso 
lute-looking  man  of  perhaps  sixty.  His  hair 
was  gray,  but  there  was  no  stoop  in  his  fig 
ure  and  he  seemed  in  the  prime  of  forceful 
life. 

"  Pshaw  !  Blenship,"  he  was  saying,  "  you 
have  no  business  to  stake  all  this  creek.  Even 
discovery  would  only  entitle  you  to  three 
claims,  and  you  must  have  twenty.  You  '11 
have  to  pull  up  and  let  my  boys  go  in." 

"  Nearer  forty  claims  than  twenty,"  Blen 
ship  declared  coolly,  "  and  every  one  of  them 
staked  on  a  good  power  of  attorney  from 
good  hard-headed  men  in  Nome.  If  you  try 
to  cut  them  out,  they  '11  fight  you,  every  one 


374  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

of  them,  and  you  know  what  that  means  in 
the  Alaska  courts.  No,  sir,  those  claims  are 
legally  staked,  on  the  square,  and  I  propose 
to  hold  'em." 

"  But  you  can't  stake  except  on  an  actual 
discovery  of  gold,"  continued  the  big  man. 
"  Do  you  mean  to  say  you  have  found  pros 
pects  on  every  one  of  them  ?  " 

"  Colonel,"  said  Blenship,  "  you  come  with 
me  and  see." 

The  two  were  gone  two  hours  and  came 
back,  still  arguing  the  matter. 

"  All  the  same,"  said  the  big  man,  "  it 's 
only  prospects,  and  the  ground  is  more  than 
likely  to  be  spotted.  What  I  want  to  see  is 
actual  outcome  of  gold  from  it  before  I  con 
sider  any  such  preposterous  price  for  a  con 
trolling  interest  in  it." 

"  You  do,  do  you,  colonel  ?  "  queried  Bleu- 
ship  calmly.  "  Well,  just  step  this  way." 

Blenship  stepped  down  toward  the  sluices 
where  Harry  and  Joe  stood,  as  had  been 
quietly  planned  by  the  ^vily  little  man. 

"  Colonel,"  said  he,  "these  are  Mr.  Nicker- 
son  and  Mr.  Desmond,  discoverers  of  Candle 
Creek  diggings,  the  richest  in  the  known 
world.  Boys,  this  is  Colonel  Lane,  of  Cali 
fornia,  now  of  Nome.  He  's  also  about  the 


STAKING  OUT  A   FORTUNE  375 

richest  in  the  known  world,  but,  like  Julius 
Caesar  or  whoever  it  was,  he  's  looking  for 
more  mining-fields  to  conquer.  Gentlemen, 
show  Mr.  Lane  what 's  in  the  riffles." 

The  boys  stepped  aside  and  Colonel  Lane 
stepped  up  to  the  sluice  boxes.  He  looked 
from  riffle  to  riffle  without  a  word.  It  was 
the  result  of  a  full  half  day's  shoveling,  and 
fate  had  been  kind  to  them. 

The  big  man  looked  long  in  silence,  then 
he  whistled.  But  in  a  second  he  chuckled. 

"  Blenship,"  he  said,  "  I  would  n't  have 
thought  it  of  you.  You  salted  the  sluice 
boxes.  You  've  put  in  all  the  gold  you  had 
in  camp  when  you  heard  me  coming." 

"  Oh-h-h  !  "  exclaimed  Blenship,  with  scorn, 
"  all  the  gold  we  have  in  camp  !  You  must 
think  we  are  pretty  slow  miners.  Boys,  come 
down  to  the  tent  and  open  the  poke  for  him." 

With  trembling  hands  Harry  drew  out  the 
bag  of  dust  and  nuggets  from  its  hiding-place 
and  opened  it.  The  colonel  looked  long  into 
this  bag,  lifted  it,  and  then  whistled  softly  for 
the  second  time. 

"  Why,  confound  it !  "  said  he.  "  There  's 
a  good  twelve  thousand  dollars  there.  Do 
you  mean  to  say  you  got  it  out  of  that  little 
mud-hole  you  are  working  out  there  ?  " 


376  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

"  All  on  \  colonel,  all  on  't.  That 's  the 
richest  bank  —  mud-bank — I ' ve  seen  yet,  and 
I  've  been  in  placer  mining  all  my  life.  Now, 
colonel,  come  out  here  and  talk  with  me. 
There  's  no  man  in  this  world  can  handle  this 
creek  the  way  you  can.  It 's  the  biggest 
thing  the  country  ever  saw.  Come  out  back 
while  I  argue  with  you." 

The  two  walked  back  on  the  tundra  to 
gether,  and  Harry  tied  up  the  poke  and  put 
it  in  its  hiding-place  again.  Joe,  weary  with 
his  morning's  work,  sat  down  in  the  tent,  but 
Harry  wandered  outside.  His  thoughts  were 
still  of  home  and  the  people  there.  He  had 
heard  the  steamer  whistle  again,  why  he  did 
not  know.  Home  was  not  so  very  far  away 
now,  he  felt  that,  but  the  thought  made  him 
only  the  more  homesick.  He  noted  some  men 
coming  up  the  creek,  seemingly  strangers,  but 
strangers  were  plentiful  there  now.  Prob 
ably  these  were  more  people  from  the  ship  com 
ing  up  to  join  those  who  were  with  Colonel 
Lane.  There  was  a  big  man  a  little  ahead  of 
the  group,  and  Harry  did  not  notice  that  as 
he  approached  he  looked  earnestly  at  him 
and  almost  broke  into  a  run.  The  great  man 
rushed  up  to  him,  took  him  by  the  shoulders, 
and  turned  him  round,  looking  him  square  in 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  377 

the  face,  then  let  out  a  roar  that  echoed  from 
the  surrounding  hills. 

"It 'shim! "he bellowed.  "It 'shim!  Great 
jumping  Jehoshaphat,  it 's  him  !  I  knew  he  'd 
turn  up.  You  could  n't  lose  him.  Did  n't 
I  see  him  go  overboard  in  the  straits  in  a 
livin*  gale  of  wind  and  come  back  bringing 
a  Yukon  goose  with  him  ?  It 's  the  seven- 
time  winner,  cap.  But  where  's  Joe  ?  " 

Joe  answered  for  himself,  rushing  out  of 
the  tent  and  flying  by  the  great  boatswain 
of  the  Bowhead,  —  for  who  else  would  it  be  ? 
—  into  his  father's  arms.  A  moment  later 
Harry  was  gripping  Captain  Nickerson's  hand 
with  one  of  his,  the  big  boatswain's  with  the 
other,  and  laughing  and  crying  and  talking 
all  at  once,  while  Mr.  Jones,  the  taciturn  first 
mate  stood  by,  erect  and  solemn,  and  seeming 
to  look  as  if  all  this  waste  of  words  was  a 
very  wrong  thing.  When  the  two  boys  were 
released  from  the  hands  of  Captain  Nickerson 
and  the  boatswain,  the  first  mate  extended  his, 
and  though  his  face  twitched  with  emotion  all 
he  said  was,  "  How  d'  do.  Glad."  Evidently 
Mr.  Jones's  characteristics  had  lost  nothing  in 
two  years. 

Captain  Nickerson  was  grayer,  and  there 
were  lines  of  care  about  his  eyes  that  had  not 


375  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

been  there  before.  But  these  seemed  to  slip 
away  as  the  boys  told  their  story  and  he 
realized  that  he  had  them  both  back  again, 
sound  and  hearty.  Mr.  Adams  had  fitted  out 
another  ship  for  him  the  following  spring  and 
he  had  made  a  trip  north,  but  the  ice  had 
been  very  bad  and  he  got  no  certain  news  of 
the  boys,  yet  somehow  neither  he  nor  the 
folks  at  home  had  been  willing  to  give  them 
up  for  lost.  Therefore  he  had  come  up  again 
this  summer,  whaling,  but  determined  to  lose 
no  chance  to  get  news  of  them.  By  chance 
he  had  found  at  Point  Hope  the  native  from 
whom  they  had  bought  the  umiak.  He  had 
told  him  how  two  white  men  who  might  be 
the  missing  ones  had  been  at  the  Hotham 
Inlet  trading  fan*  and  gone  south  across  the 
bay.  He  had  followed  on  the  slender  clue, 
had  sighted  Lane's  steamer,  and  landed.  And 
so  they  talked  on,  oblivious  of  all  except  that 
they  were  reunited  again  after  so  long  a  time. 
Harry  and  Joe  forgot  their  gold,  and  the 
captain,  full  of  news  from  home  for  them, 
asked  nothing  about  their  present  condition. 

Meanwhile  Blenship  and  the  colonel,  argu 
ing  earnestly  back  on  the  tundra,*  had  noticed 
the  commotion. 

"  Who  are  those  people  ?  "  asked  the  big 
man. 


STAKING  OUT  A  FORTUNE  379 

Blenship  did  not  know,  but  he  was  not 
going  to  let  a  little  matter  of  ignorance  spoil 
a  good  bargain.  "  Those,"  said  he,  "  must  be 
the  wealthy  friends  of  my  partners  from  the 
States.  They  've  been  expecting  some  people 
up  on  their  own  steamer,  exploring.  I  reckon 
they  '11  be  glad  to  see  how  well  the  boys  have 
done." 

"  Look  here,  Blenship,"  said  the  colonel 
hastily,  "  I  reckon  I  '11  have  to  take  your  fig 
ures  on  this  trade.  You  are  empowered  to  act 
for  your  partners,  are  n't  you?  " 

"  Certainly,  colonel,  certainly,"  replied 
Blenship,  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye. 

"Well,  it's  a  bargain,  then,"  declared  the 
colonel.  "  Shake  hands  on  it." 

The  two  shook  hands  solemnly  and  hastened 
back  to  the  tent.  Mutual  introductions  fol 
lowed,  then  Blenship  spoke.  "  I  've  sold  the 
creek,  boys,"  he  said,  "  and  the  colonel  has 
driven  a  hard  bargain  with  me,  but  I  reckon 
we'll  all  have  to  stand  by  it.  In  the  first 
place  he  gets  my  rights  in  all  the  claims  I  've 
staked,  and  that 's  most  of  the  creek,  for  fifty 
thousand  dollars.  Ain't  that  right,  colonel  ?  " 
The  big  man  nodded.  "  Next  he  buys  a  con 
trolling  interest  in  discovery  claim  and  the 
two  above  and  below,  belonging  to  you  two 


380  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

boys,  fifty-one  per  cent,  of  the  five  claims,  for 
just  a  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  dol 
lars,  cash  and  notes,  you  to  retain  forty-nine 
per  cent,  interest  in  them  all  and  to  receive 
that  proportion  of  the  net  earnings,  the  proper 
share  of  expenses  being  taken  out.  Eeckon 
he  '11  stick  you  bad  on  them  expenses." 

"  Look  here,"  said  Captain  Nickerson. 
"What 'sail  this?" 

"Oh,"  said  Blenship,  "I  thought  you 
knew."  The  colonel  was  shaking  his  fist  at 
Blenship,  but  he  pretended  not  to  notice  it. 
"  Show  him  the  poke,  man ! "  he  said  to 
Harry. 

Harry  drew  the  gold  from  its  hiding-place 
and  untied  the  neck  of  the  sack  once  more. 
The  big  boatswain  waited  just  long  enough 
to  see  this  gold,  then  he  bolted  from  the  tent. 
Outside  they  could  hear  him  slapping  his 
great  leg  with  a  noise  like  the  report  of  a 
pistol  and  gurgling  something  about  seven- 
time  winners,  but  within  they  were  too  much 
interested  in  the  story  of  the  placer  dis 
coveries  to  heed. 


CHAPTER  XV 

HOME    AGAIN 

THE  boys  slept  that  night  in  clean  linen  on 
board  the  Maisie  Adams,  Captain  Nicker- 
son's  new  ship.  What  a  thump  Harry's  heart 
gave  when  he  saw  the  name  on  the  stern  and 
realized  who  it  was  that  had  come  to  rescue 
him  !  A  thought  that  had  been  vaguely  his 
for  long,  a  desire  that  had  been  but  a  blush 
deep  down  in  his  heart,  grew  to  a  dominant 
purpose  in  a  moment,  then.  Maisie's  clear 
gray  eyes  shone  out  of  memory  with  a  new 
light  in  them,  and  the  thought  of  home-com 
ing  thrilled  him  with  an  ecstasy  more  potent 
than  ever  before. 

The  next  day  the  final  papers  in  the  mining 
deal  were  passed  on  board  Colonel  Lane's 
steamer,  a  splendid  vessel,  the  T.  H.  Lane, 
named  for  himself.  It  is  thus  that  the  pioneer 
of  the  present  day  exploits  the  far  regions 
of  the  earth.  He  comes  with  an  army  at  his 
command,  with  every  resource  that  steam  and 
modern  invention  and  unlimited  capital  can 


382  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

furnish,  and  at  the  nod  of  his  head  Cities 
spring  up,  great  industries  flourish,  almost  in 
a  day. 

What  pleased  Captain  Nickerson  mort?  than 
anything  else  in  the  adventures  which  Joe 
and  Harry  related  to  him  was  the  story  of 
the  finding  of  the  stores  of  whalebone  at  the 
village  of  Nunaria.  His  own  father  had  been 
an  officer  in  the  unfortunate  fleet,  and  the 
finding  of  the  bone  seemed  to  come  to  him  as 
a  fitting  inheritance.  But  before  he  sailed 
north  to  make  the  discovery  good  he  turned 
the  vessel's  prow  toward  Nome,  and  there 
transferred  the  boys  to  one  of  the  numerous 
steamers  ready  to  sail  for  Seattle.  The  two 
should  bear  home  the  news  of  their  own 
good  fortune,  —  home  to  the  waiting,  anxious 
mothers  in  the  east.  And  so  they  parted,  and 
the  boys,  steaming  south  on  a  staunch  ves 
sel,  gazed  with  tears  in  their  eyes  on  the  smoke 
of  the  Maisie  Adams,  which  bore  resolutely 
north  again  toward  the  straits  and  the  fasci 
nating,  mysterious,  dangerous  region  where 
they  had  been  the  captives  of  the  frost  for 
two  long,  eventful  years.  It  may  as  well  be 
said  here  that  Captain  Nickerson  found  the 
long  lost  bone  without  difficulty,  and  on  his 
way  south  stopped  at  the  little  village  of 


HOME   AGAIN  383 

Point  Lay,  where  he  found  Harluk  and  Kroo 
living  frugally  and  contentedly.  Before  he 
sailed  away  he  rewarded  the  gentle  friends  of 
the  two  boys  with  stores  and  supplies  that 
made  them  far  richer  than  they  had  ever 
dreamed  of  being. 

Seattle  and  civilization  in  very  truth  came 
next.  How  the  city  had  grown,  and  what  a 
pleasure  there  was  in  its  bustle,  the  roar  of 
traffic,  and  the  throngs  of  well-dressed,  busy 
men  and  women  in  its  streets.  Here  they 
stopped  only  long  enough  to  replenish  their 
wardrobes,  bettered  already  somewhat  by  the 
"  slop  chest "  of  the  Maisie  Adams,  but  still 
far  from  what  they  should  be,  and  to  send  two 
telegrams  to  the  people  at  home.  They  fol 
lowed  the  messages  on  the  first  train  for  the 
east,  and  now  let  us  leave  them,  flying  across 
country  as  fast  as  steam  can  carry  them,  and 
see  how  matters  stand  at  Quincy  Point. 

Like  Captain  Nickerson,  Mr.  Desmond  had 
grown  grayer  in  the  years  that  had  passed. 
To  take  up  the  debris  of  a  broken  fortune 
and  out  of  it  build  a  new  one  is  no  easy 
task.  He  had  toiled  faithfully,  yet  only  a 
very  slender  success  had  thus  far  rewarded 
him.  There  was  depression  in  his  line  of 
business,  and  the  limited  capital  which  the 


384  THE   YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

downfall  of  the  house  had  left  him  made  it 
uphill  work.  Yet  it  was  not  so  much  the 
business  cares  as  anxiety  as  to  the  fate  of  his 
only  son  that  weighed  most  upon  him.  He 
had  never  for  a  moment  given  him  up  for 
lost,  yet  when  the  first  summer  passed  without 
news  of  the  absent  ones  the  stoop  came  into 
his  shoulders  again,  and  the  lines  of  care 
deepened  on  his  face.  More  and  more  he  had 
come  to  depend  on  the  simple,  cheery  faith  of 
Mrs.  Desmond,  whose  hope  and  trust  in  the 
watchful  care  of  Divine  Providence  had  never 
for  a  moment  seemed  to  waver.  What  it  had 
cost  her  to  keep  up  this  cheery  calm,  no  one 
but  a  wife  and  mother  can  tell.  It  is  upon 
the  good  women  of  the  world  that  these 
burdens  come,  and  right  nobly  do  they  bear 
them. 

It  was  on  a  bright  day  at  the  last  of  August 
that  Mr.  Desmond  received  that  telegram  at 
his  office,  gave  the  clerks  a  half  holiday  as  a 
slight  token  of  thanksgiving,  and  came  down 
on  the  noon  train.  Mrs.  Desmond  met  him 
at  the  door. 

"  What  is  it,  Frank  ?  "  she  said.  "  Are  n't 
you  well  ?  " 

"  Why,  yes,"  replied  Mr.  Desmond,  casting 
about  for  a  way  to  break  the  good  news  to 


HOME   AGAIN  385 

her  gently ;  as  if  news  could  be  broken,  or 
good  news  ever  needed  it !  "  Why,  yes,  I  'm 
more  than  well,  I "  —  And  then  Mrs.  Des 
mond  took  him  by  the  shoulders  and  looked 
once  in  his  face,  and  knew. 

"  Who  can  deceive  a  lover  ?  "  said  one  of 
the  wise  ones  of  old,  and  these  two  were  lovers 
still  and  always  would  be.  The  father  had 
brought  the  happy  story  in  his  face,  and  when 
he  clasped  his  wife  in  his  arms  and  told  it  in 
words,  it  was  the  second  telling. 

I  've  said  something  in  this  story  about  the 
rapidity  with  which  news  travels  in  Eskimo 
land,  but  you  ought  to  see  it  go  in  a  New 
England  village.  It  flutters  with  the  pigeons 
from  house-top  to  house-top.  It  comes  to  the 
doorstep  with  the  morning's  milk,  before  you 
are  up,  and  the  expressman  leaves  it  with  a 
package  at  eight  at  night.  You  may  start 
the  story  ahead  of  you  and  then  follow  it 
down  street  on  a  bicycle,  but  it  will  leave  you 
a  poor  second  at  the  far  end  of  the  town. 
Thus  it  became  known  before  sunset  that 
Harry  Desmond,  whom  everybody  thought 
had  been  lost  in  the  Arctic,  was  on  his  way 
home,  alive  and  well,  and  great  was  the  re 
joicing  thereat.  Everybody  seemed  to  take 
especial  pride  in  the  safe  return  of  the  young 


386  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

man,  and  the  Adamses  were  in  quite  a  flutter 
of  excitement  about  it. 

"  Is  n't  it  splendid  ?  "  said  Mrs.  Adams  to 
Maisie.  "I  feel  as  if  Harry  quite  belonged 
to  us  since  he  pulled  you  out  of  the  water 
that  day  nearly  three  years  ago.  He  must  be 
almost  a  grown  man  now,  and  you  've  grown 
up  quite  a  bit  yourself.  How  the  time  does 
fly!" 

Maisie  had  indeed  grown  up  quite  a  bit. 
The  change  from  girlhood  to  young  woman 
hood,  which  seems  to  come  so  suddenly  with 
the  lengthening  of  the  skirt  and  the  doing 
up  of  the  hair,  had  come  to  her,  and  the 
coupling  of  her  name  so  intimately  with  Har 
ry's  sent  a  swift  flush  mantling  her  round 
cheek.  Harry  had  been  her  playmate  and 
friend  since  early  childhood,  and  now  he  was 
coming  back  grown  up,  and  she  was  grown 
up  too.  She  felt  her  cheeks  burn  under  her 
mother's  kindly  scrutiny,  and  she  hastened  to 
change  the  subject,  but  the  thought  of  Harry 
came  back  now  and  then,  and  the  color  with  it. 

Harry's  father  and  Mr.  Adams  met  the  two 
boys  in  Boston,  but  Joe  left  immediately  on 
the  train  for  the  Cape.  His  mother  was  wait 
ing  for  him,  he  knew,  and  the  thought  would 
brook  no  delay.  Mrs.  Desmond  waited  for 


HOME   AGAIN  387 

4 

Harry  at  the  house.  She  knew  that  if  she 
came  to  the  station,  she  could  not  help  laugh 
ing  and  crying  over  him  at  once,  and  the  reti 
cence  of  the  New  England  blood  bade  her 
avoid  the  chance  of  a  scene.  Queer  thing, 
the  New  England  blood,  —  sensitive,  full  of 
pathos  and  tire  and  enthusiasm,  all  masked 
beneath  the  cool  steel  of  seeming  indifference. 
All  the  neighbors  saw  her  meet  him  at  the 
door  quite  sedately ;  none  of  them  saw  the 
passion  of  mother  love  revealed  after  the  door 
was  shut,  nor  would  she  have  had  them  see  it 
for  worlds. 

Harry  sat  for  a  long  time  with  his  strong 
brown  hands  clasped  tight  in  his  mother's 
slender  white  ones.  Now  she  wondered  at  his 
height  and  manly  strength,  again  flushed  with 
secret  pride  at  the  new  look  of  character  and 
decision  in  his  face,  and  vowed  that  she  had 
lost  her  boy  after  all,  —  he  was  a  man  now. 
He  told  them  in  brief  the  story  of  his  adven 
tures,  but  said  nothing  of  the  placer  mine  and 
the  bargain  with  Colonel  Lane.  Somehow  he 
wanted  to  wait  on  that,  to  keep  it  till  the  last. 

"  How  has  the  business  gone,  father,"  he 
asked  after  a  while.  "  Did  you  manage  with 
out  me  in  the  office  ?  " 

"  Not  over  well,"  replied  his  father  soberly. 


388  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

ft 
"  It  has  been  a  long  hard  pull  on  very  little 

capital.     Still,  we  are  getting  on." 

Harry  noted  again  the  gray  in  his  father's 
hair  and  the  lines  of  patient  determination 
about  the  mouth  that  had  not  been  there  when 
he  went  away,  and  felt  his  heart  thrill  with  joy 
at  the  thought  that  he  had  come  back  amply 
able  to  help  him.  He  knew  now  that  he  had 
not  cared  for  the  money  for  its  own  sake.  He 
had  enjoyed  the  excitement  of  getting  it.  He 
had  been  glad  that  he  and  Joe  could  go  to  col 
lege  together ;  they  had  planned  that  on  the 
way  home,  and  he  felt  now  that  he  realized  the 
value  of  a  college  education  as  he  had  never 
done  before.  But  here  was  a  better  use  for 
money  than  all  that.  He  could  lift  the  burden 
that  his  father  had  borne  so  patiently  and  put 
the  family  back  where  it  had  been  before  the 
business  disaster.  This  was  a  greater  happiness 
yet  in  his  home-coming. 

"  Would  fifty  thousand  dollars  help  you, 
father  ?  "  he  asked  quietly. 

"  It  would  indeed,  my  boy,"  replied  his 
father,  smiling  rather  sadly,  "  but  I  don't  see 
where  I  am  to  get  it." 

"  Well,  I  do,"  said  Harry  triumphantly. 
"  I  've  some  things  up  my  sleeve,  as  the  boys 
say,  that  I  have  n't  said  anything  about  yet. 


HOME  AGAIN  389 

I  wanted  them  for  the  last.  In  the  first  place, 
though,  here 's  a  little  present  from  the  Arctic 
for  you  and  mother.  Wait  till  I  open  my  grip/' 

His  hands  trembled  as  he  pulled  out  the 
bandana  handkerchief  and  opened  it,  just 
as  they  had  when  he  did  the  same  thing  for 
Colonel  Lane  up  at  Candle  Creek. 

"  Why,  my  son,"  said  his  father  in  astonish 
ment,  "what's  this?" 

"  Gold,  daddy,  gold  !  "  shouted  Harry,  dan 
cing  round  the  two  in  his  excitement  and  de 
light.  "Just  a  little  souvenir  that  I  mined  up 
in  the  Arctic  with  my  own  hands.  We  got  out 
twelve  thousand,  Joe  and  I.  That 's  only  a 
little  of  it,  but  I  thought  it  would  make  a  nice 
thing  for  a  present  when  I  got  home.  There 's 
about  a  thousand  there.  I  've  got  notes  for 
the  rest." 

"  Why,  Harry  ! "  ejaculated  his  mother,  her 
eyes  gleaming  with  delight  in  her  son's  suc 
cess.  "  Don't  tear  around  so.  The  neighbors 
will  think  the  house  is  afire." 

"  And  so  it  will  be  in  a  minute,  mother. 
That  is  n't  half  of  it.  Look  at  this,  and  this." 
He  threw  down  two  long  envelopes  filled  with 
documents.  "  There  's  notes  of  Colonel  Lane, 
the  millionaire  mining  magnate  of  California, 
for  about  seventy  thousand  dollars,  and  there's 


390  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

the  papers  that  show  I  am  a  quarter  owner  in 
the  richest  placer  mine  in  all  Alaska." 

His  father's  eyes  gleamed  as  he  looked  care 
fully  at  these  papers,  and  Harry  gave  his 
mother  a  hug  that  he  must  surely  have  learned 
of  the  polar  bears  up  at  Point  Lay. 

"  Mother,"  he  said,  "  when  I  was  a  little 
fellow  "  (you  would  have  thought  him  at  least 
thirty  now  to  hear  that,  though  not  to  see  him), 
"  you  used  to  fry  doughnuts  for  me  and  make 
one  that  was  like  a  man.  I  want  you  to  fry 
me  two  now,  big  ones,  and  make  'em  twins. 
That 's  Joe  and  me  up  at  Candle  Creek." 

Harry  caught  up  his  mother  in  his  arms  and 
danced  a  wild  whirl  about  the  room,  finally 
seating  her  breathless  and  laughing  on  the 
sofa,  while  his  father  looked  on  with  pride  in 
his  face  and  two  tears  shining  on  his  cheeks. 
No  one  but  he  knew  what  a  load  the  tidings  of 
good  fortune  had  lifted  from  his  shoulders. 
With  ample  capital  he  would  show  the  business 
world  what  the  house  of  Desmond  could  do. 
The  stoop  was  out  of  his  shoulders  again  and 
Harry  knew  it,  and  would  have  gone  through 
every  hardship  of  the  two  years  again  for  the 
sight. 

Supper  was  announced  before  they  had 
done  talking  over  this  glorious  news,  and 


HOME   AGAIN  391 

Harry  was  not  so  excited  but  that  he  did  full 
justice  to  home  cooking.  In  the  evening 
there  came  a  ring  at  the  doorbell,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Adams  came  in  —  and  Maisie. 

"  Well,"  Mr.  Adams  said,  "  you  went  away 
a  boy  and  you  have  come  back  a  man  grown. 
If  being  lost  in  the  Arctic  for  two  years  or  so 
will  give  people  such  size  and  rugged  health 
as  that,  I  should  advise  it  for  lots  of  them." 

Harry  blushed  and  stammered  at  the  sight 
of  Maisie.  She  had  grown  up  too,  he  thought, 
and  how  lovely  she  was !  As  for  Maisie,  she 
was  cordially  glad  to  see  him,  but  as  demure 
about  it  as  the  most  proper  young  lady  should 
be.  Only  when  she  went  away  she  glanced 
up  at  him  shyly  and  said,  — 

"  Did  you  bring  me  that  aurora  boreah's 
that  you  promised  me  the  last  thing  when 
you  went  away  ?  " 

Then  indeed  Harry  found  his  tongue, 
though  he  blushed  in  the  saying.  "  You  are 
like  the  aurora  yourself.  Come  sailing  with 
me  to-morrow,  will  you  not  ?  " 

Maisie  blushed  too,  as  who  would  not  at  so 
direct  a  compliment  from  a  handsome,  broad- 
shouldered  young  man. 

"  Why,  yes,  thank  you,"  she  answered.  "  I  'd 
like  to  very  much.  Shall  it  be  at  ten  ?  Your 


392  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

knockabout  is  down  at  the  boathouse.  Good 
night."  And  as  she  tripped  daintily  down 
the  broad  walk  to  the  street,  Harry  wondered 
what  need  there  was  of  street  lamps  when  she 
was  out. 

During  the  evening  Mr.  Adams  asked  him 
if  he  was  ready  to  make  that  report  con 
cerning  the  whaling  in  Bering  Sea  and  the 
Arctic,  and  was  much  pleased  when  Harry 
handed  him  quite  a  pile  of  manuscript,  some 
of  it  written  in  pencil,  and  all  stained  with 
salt  water. 

"  I  '11  put  this  in  better  shape  in  a  day  or 
two,"  he  said.  "  It  contains  all  I  could  find 
out  about  the  subject,  and  I  think  is  accu 
rate." 

"  Well,  well,"  exclaimed  Mr.  Adams,  "  this 
looks  good.  The  company  is  already  formed 
and  ready  to  start  business.  They  will  be  glad 
to  get  this  ;  "  and  he  tucked  it  under  his  arm 
just  as  it  was,  saying  it  bore  greater  evidence 
of  reliability  in  that  shape,  and  he  wanted  to 
show  it  to  the  directors  without  change. 

"  Let  us  see,"  he  said,  "  you  were  to  have 
a  salary  of  twenty  dollars  a  month  for  this 
work,  and  you  have  been  gone  practically 
thirty  months.  I  will  see  that  a  check  for  six 
hundred  dollars  is  made  out  to  you." 


HOME   AGAIN  393 

Harry  had  another  thrill  of  pleasure  at 
this.  It  was  not  the  money  so  much,  but  he 
felt  that  to  have  won  Mr.  Adams's  approval 
in  this  way  was  worth  while.  He  determined 
privately  that  Joe  should  have  half.  He  had 
certainly  helped  him  earn  it. 

The  next  day  was  one  of  those  rarely  per 
fect  days  that  often  come  to  New  England  in 
early  September.  The  warmth  of  summer 
still  lingers  in  the  air,  but  there  is  with  it  too 
the  glow  and  exhilaration  of  autumn.  A 
faint  breeze  blew  in  from  the  west  and  lifted 
the  August  haze  till  distant  objects  stood 
out  clear  and  sharp  in  outline,  —  a  glorious 
day. 

It  was  quite  a  bit  before  ten  when  Harry 
called  for  Maisie,  but  she  was  all  ready,  and 
chatted  demurely  of  many  things  as  they 
walked  down  the  well-remembered  path  to  the 
boathouse.  There  Griggs,  the  ancient  ferry 
man,  greeted  Harry  with  a  whoop,  much  like 
that  he  had  raised  two  years  and  a  half  before 
in  answer  to  his  shout  for  assistance. 

"  W-e-11, 1  swanny  !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  But 
I  'm  glad  to  see  ye.  Allus  knew  you  'd  get  back 
somehow.  How  you  have  growed,  though ! 
Well,  well !  this  is  like  old  times,  ain't  it  ? 
Ain't  been  a  day  go  by  but  I  think  how  you 


394  THE  YOUNG  ICE   WHALERS 

swum  for  the  young  lady  here,  an'  I  pulled 
you  both  out.  How  be  ye  ?  " 

Harry  shook  hands  with  Griggs  cordially, 
and  noted  that  the  old  man  had  not  changed 
a  particle  in  the  time  that  had  passed. 

"  Kept  the  boat  all  ready  for  ye  ever  since," 
said  Griggs.  "  S'pected  you  'd  be  along  some 
day  and  want  a  sail  in  her.  Here  she  is." 

There  she  -was,  indeed,  with  every  line  and 
cleat  in  place,  and  Harry  felt  as  if  greeting  an 
old  friend  as  he  helped  Maisie  in  and  hoisted 
the  sail.  The  little  boat  glided  gently  down 
the  river,  and  out  into  the  wider  waters  of  the 
bay.  As  Harry  looked  about  and  noted  every 
object  iii  the  familiar  scene,  it  seemed  to  him 
as  if  he  had  hardly  been  away  a  day  instead 
of  two  years  and  a  half,  as  if  the  home  life 
only  was  real,  and  all  the  strange  things  that 
had  happened  to  him  had  been  but  a  dream. 
Yet  when  he  looked  at  Maisie  and  found  her 
grown  up  to  the  verge  of  young  womanhood, 
he  felt  as  if  he  had  been  away  for  years  and 
years,  and  hardly  knew  the  dainty  lady  who 
sat  on  the  windward  side  and  trimmed  ship 
as  a  good  sailor  should.  He  was  thoughtful 
and  silent  until  Maisie  looked  up  at  him 
roguishly,  and  said,  — 

"  Well,  why  don't  you  tell  me  all  about  it  ? 


HOME  AGAIN  395 

It  must  be  something  very  serious  that  keeps 
you  silent  so  long.  You  used  to  chatter  fast 
enough.  Is  it  an  Eskimo  young  lady  ?  " 

Harry  laughed.  "  I  Ve  seen  Eskimo  young 
ladies,"  he  said,  "  though  I  was  n't  thinking 
of  them  at  just  that  moment.  Some  of  them 
are  quite  pretty,  too,"  —  Maisie  pouted  a  bit 
at  this,  —  "  though  they  don't  dress  in  what 
you  would  call  good  taste." 

"  Tell  me  about  them,  tell  me  all  about 
everything,"  said  Maisie,  and  Harry,  nothing 
loth,  launched  into  stories  of  his  adventures, 
and  the  strange  sights  he  had  seen,  that  lasted 
till  it  was  time  they  were  home  for  lunch. 
He  was  modest  in  relating  his  own  share  in 
the  dangers  and  excitements,  but  Maisie  saw 
through  this  and  gave  him  perhaps  a  larger 
share  of  credit  than  he  deserved.  How  strong 
and  handsome  he  was,  she  thought.  Of  course 
he  had  been  brave  and  noble,  and  now  her 
eyes  filled  with  sudden  tears,  and  again  shone 
with  excitement  and  admiration,  as  he  told  of 
being  lost  in  the  Arctic  pack,  battling  with 
the  highbinders,  and  being  chased  by  the 
river  ice  on  the  Kowak. 

And  so  this  modern  Desdemona  listened  to 
her  sun-bronzed  Othello  until  the  boat  had 
swung  gently  back  with  the  tide  almost  op 
posite  the  cottages  at  German  town. 


396  THE  YOUNG  ICE  WHALERS 

There  Harry  finished  the  tale,  and  Maisie 
noted  that  they  were  almost  back  again,  with 
a  sigh.  A  sudden  impulse  seized  her. 

"  Let  me  take  the  boat  in  to  the  landing," 
she  said.  "  There  is  n't  much  wind." 

She  slipped  quickly  to  the  stern  and  seated 
herself  the  other  side  of  the  tiller.  The  boat 
was  lazing  along  with  the  helm  amidships  and 
there  was  no  need  for  Harry  to  move.  Maisie's 
hand  dropped  beside  his,  and  with  a  sudden 
masterful  impulse  he  laid  his  own  over  it. 

And  Maisie  ?  She  looked  up  at  him  with 
those  clear,  cool,  beautiful  eyes,  and  he 
said  —  But  I  shan't  tell  you  what  he  said. 
It  is  no  affair  of  ours,  and  nobody  was  sup 
posed  to  know  it  for  a  time,  except,  indeed, 
their  own  fathers  and  mothers,  who,  of  course, 
vowed  that  the  young  people  were  altogether 
too  young  for  such  plans,  and  then  gave  their 
blessing. 

Nobody  was  supposed  to  know,  but  it  is 
funny  how  news  will  travel  in  a  New  England 
village,  and  the  fact  is,  all  this  occurred  right 
opposite  the  cottages,  and  as  likely  as  not 
some  one  was  using  a  field-glass  at  that  very 
moment. 

At  any  rate,  the  knockabout  sailed  herself 
for  several  minutes  right  across  the  place 


HOME   AGAIN  397 

where  Harry  plunged  in  to  save  Maisie  once, 
and  only  the  kindness  of  fate  and  a  very  light 
wind  prevented  them  from  being  in  danger  of 
another  ducking. 

Griggs,  the  old  ferryman,  was  not  so  very 
far  away  either,  and  he  looked  at  them  with  a 
very  knowing  smile  as  they  walked  soberly  up 
the  path  to  the  house.  So  perhaps  he  told, 
but  I  am  not  going  to. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

RENEWALS  ONLY— TEL.  NO.  642-3405 
This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


19 


LD2lA-60m-6,'69 
(J9096slO)476-A-32 


General  Library     > 
University  of  California 
Berkeley 


